#feralscream

It comes with being in a trine, with being in a flock. It comes with being a Winglord especially, so I imagine in TFP Starscream is so jittery, he needs something to fuss over. He doesn’t have his trine anymore and his remaining seekers are all scattered around the universe.

The need to preen and fuss and groom grabs onto him and refuses to let go. Often times he’d find himself looking over Knock Out or Soundwave, on rarer occasions Megatron or Breakdown, searching for gunk. He eyes their joints for anything stuck between them and sometimes he’ll reach out to itch something off only to pull his servo away when he catches himself.

I imagine Soundwave is the first to fully understand, he understands the need to fawn and fuss and care for others, Lazerbeak was prime proof that he understands. So he hands her to Starscream, making some lie that she was hurt on her last scout and needs a watchful optic while he’s busy. He almost doesn’t expect Starscream to jump at the offer.

And that’s how it starts, because when Lazerbeak returns to Soundwave at the end of the cycle she’s about eight times cleaner and seems rather happy about her visit. Primus she’s even covered in fresh polish and Soundwave hasn’t seen the cassette so excited. She shows Soundwave everything, the overzealous grooming, the careful polishing in which Starscream had to very gently hold her steady, and they even played.

It nearly blows Soundwave away, he hadn’t expected such gentleness from the seeker, he hadn’t expected the seeker to take it so seriously either. Well, he had his suspicions, but this is much more than what he thought.

And it just starts with grooming, before Soundwave knows it, Starscream is catching scraplets for the cassette. When the seeker first brings one he almost thinks it to be alive, its frame slightly twitching after he dropped it on Soundwave’s desk. Though, the energon leaking from its frame and the crashed in helm make him realize otherwise. Lazerbeak isn’t sure what to make of it as well and it’s a standstill until she, before Soundwave can stop her, sips up some of the leaking energon.

She loves it.

And it doesn’t take long before Starscream is almost always focused on her, foreground and background. Soundwave often finds Starscream staring at Lazerbeak while she rests against his chassis during their conversations. He senses Starscream’s worry in his EM field every time Lazerbeak is on recon. And Lazerbeak soaks up the attention like nothing else, happy chirps going back and forth between seeker and cassette.

You get what you ask for, roll the clip!

Hungry

Words: 1091

Seekers were known for being a more… base coded cybertronian life form. Much more intune with their surroundings and environment than most bots. Starscream was no avid exception and Megatron would be lying if he said he wasn’t the least bit interested by the seeker’s strange behavior.

What got his attention in the beginning was the chirps and beeps, so close to a sparklings needy whining that he almost thought he’d accidentally put a youngling in charge of his Air Command. Only to come to the shocking surprise that it was simply a part of the Vosian language. The use of fields and wings along with the chirps and beeps made a language that a grounder like him would never understand.

In the beginning it was nothing more than a fun tidbit, an interesting piece of information, but as time went on other behaviors started to set in. Starscream’s way of marking things was certainly one, he had quickly taken notice that the seeker had been purposefully clawing the walls of the Nemesis and scratching his very plating against sharper corners. The worst part was that his trine would follow suit, copying their leader until the entire Nemesis was marked in scoring.

It didn’t help that Ravage was encouraged by the clawing.

Along with the clawing, seekers were apparently rather vocal. He had seen it in the trines, how one would chirp and they would all go back and forth until they were bored. With Starscream’s trine however, it would last joors. Skywarp always started it, though it seemed that Starscream was too competitive to be the last and Thundercracker gained amusement out of Starscream’s growing annoyance.

Skywarp once got Megatron to beep back at him but the Decepticon leader would never admit such a fumble.

As chaotic and strange as the seekers were, they were useful and so Megatron could take their odd behavior with a grain of salt. Of course, he would soon come regret being so lenient.

It was supposed to be peaceful, just a quick touch and go with Soundwave about a possible supply of energon. Half way through their discussion screaming and the banging of metal began down the hall. Obnoxiously loud pedesteps quickly approaching along with the roar of thrusters.

Annoyance quickly gave way to confusion as Megatron shared a look with Soundwave. Voices down the hall screaming obscenities, similar things he had heard in the Pits of Kaon. Specifically, curses in ones name when things weren’t going the crowds’ way. Well, confusion often gives way to curiosity and Megatron peaked out of the doorway.

The sight before him was something he certainly hadn’t expected. A turbofox, a very terrified turbofox had apparently stowed away on the ship, now running from what Megatron could only assume was a very upset Starscream. It was difficult to tell exactly what Starscream was feeling as he couldn’t see his face while the seeker was in alt mode, but he concluded it to be simply from the chase.

He wasn’t expecting Starscream to suddenly transform midair to slam into the poor creature.

He also wasn’t expecting Starscream to grab onto the turbofox’s neck and tear out its main fuel line. He didn’t even give it time to deactivate before he started eating it. Oh sweet Primus, what the frag.

Shock gripped his frame and it didn’t allow him to warn Soundwave about the sight before him. Unfortunately the third in command also got an eyeful and had quickly turned to look away from the increasingly mangled body. Megatron barely even noticed the slowing pedesteps before Motormaster appeared on the other side of Starscream, along with the other sunticons.

“I told you not to let it go with Starscream around.” Dragstrip hisses.

“How was I going to know he’d fragging hunt it down!” Dead End snaps in response.

Megatron cycles his optics, focusing on the pooling energon around the turbofox’s body as the seeker eagerly tears into its frame. It’s almost terrifying to watch and a few of the stunticons are turning their heads, Soundwave, as well, seems rather uncomfortable. The crunch and scraping of metal is very much unappreciated yet the overlord is at a loss on how to make the seeker stop. His words are failing him at the moment.

After a few moments of hesitation, he takes a step forward only to be immediately snapped at. Starscream’s servo is clinging to his kill while his engine fiercely revs with a freezing growl. Fangs flash dangerously and Megatron barely manages to react before Starscream is tearing into the creature with further intensity. He steps back, deciding it would be best to not lose a digit to the apparently hungry seeker.

He’s so focused on Starscream that he nearly jumps when he hears the sunticons exclaim and he looks up just in time to see Skywarp and Thundercracker barreling through the group to join Starscream. Hissing and snapping ensues, wings flaring before they fall back with little twitches. An understanding seems to happen as the three now eagerly ravage into the deactivated creature.

“Soundwave: uncomfortable.” He hears his third in command speak behind him. Megatron could say the same yet he can’t tear his optics away, especially when Starscream suddenly stops eating to watch Skywarp and Thundercracker take their fill. The seeker opts to lick his energon-covered frame clean, glossia slowly raking over his talons before they retract. His wings twitch and flitter behind him, frame adjusting until he has lifted himself to his pedes. He notices the way the seeker hovers over his trine mates, protective in every way except verbal. The look he gives Megatron almost seems like he’s challenging the Decepticon leader to just try and take his prize.

“Starscream.” The seeker shifts, wings hiked up behind him. “I expect ferocity like this on the battlefield, not wasted on some loose turbofox.”

Starscream’s expression immediately grows snarky, “Apologies Lord Megatron, my tanks were low and couldn’t pass up a good meal. If you have an issue with us not starving you can kindly-“

Megatron holds his servo up, “I was… unaware that your seekers needed more energon and.. metals.”

Expressions switched on a shanix, snarkiness now given way to anger. “Unaware?! I sent you several files on seekers! You stamped them!”

Megatron’s expression drops and he cautiously looks to Soundwave who turns his head away and starts back into the meeting room.