Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Soundwave, I need you to do something for me,” Megatron sighed.

“Soundwave: Understands.”

“Good, because this is important.”

“Objective: Infiltration of Autobots hidden base again?”

“No, something entirely different, more…idiotic actually. Wait here.” Megatron walked away from Soundwave, and when he came back, there was something in his servo, a giant ball of fluff with a helmet over its head, metal bat-like wings, and two downward-pointing blasters attached to it. Megatron continued to hold it by the scruff of its neck, while a flurry of blue paws danced in the air as it tried to claw his faceplate before it was tossed at Soundwave.

“A cat?” Soundwave asked, catching the suddenly thrown object at him. “Like Ravage?” He tilts his head, staring at the unidentifiable creature’s' bright red optics up close. It was an organic-looking tabby cat whose main part of the coat was light gray, but there were enough splotches of red and blue around its chest and limbs to make him question if it really was a “cat” at all. More so when he got a closer look at the oversized gray metal wings and blasters situated on its back. Could it even walk like that? The whole “cat” felt rather heavy too in his arms, heavier than Ravage, but at the same time it reminded Soundwave of a certain second in command. The personality surely matched with the flurry of meows this “cat” kept throwing at him and Megatron; it sounded like it had been wronged.

“Starscream, actually. The stupid idiot went and got himself turned into a cat, and he couldn’t even turn himself into a proper cat. Hook said he’s some weird mash of organic and inorganic materials right now. And we don’t even know how he did this to himself or how to get him back to normal. What an idiot.” 

Starscream’s whiskers twitched in response as he kept his pointed gaze at Megatron and started to hiss loudly, preparing to launch himself at the stupid metal tin can, but was stopped when Soundwave launched into action by grabbing onto the scruff of his neck, forcing him to stop and hang there midair. The problem was that they’d underestimated the seeker's stubbornness, possibly amplified by his new form, latching onto the idea of throwing his paws around and testing to see if his blasters still worked, taking pride when they did and forcing Megatron to jump back. 

“Like I said, what an idiot,” Megatron frowned. “But unfortunately he has his uses, so we need to keep him safe until Shockwave can figure out how he managed to turn himself into this and how to turn him back.” 

“Soundwave: Understands and will keep Starscream away from harm.”

“Good. Make sure no one else finds out about his…new form too. Especially the Autobots. They’ll take this as an opportunity to attack us while we’re distracted. And keep him away from his seeker’s too. I don’t want to imagine the headache they’ll cause seeing him like this.” 

⊹₊⟡⋆

“Starscream: Don’t—”

Starscream humored him by knocking the cube of blue energon off of the table he was perched on. 

“Starscream: Being a bad kitty,” Soundwave responded, bending down to clean up the freshly made mess. “Maybe he needs a time out too.”

He let out a hiss at the combination of Soundwave’s approaching frame, his words, and the tight grip of his servos holding the scruff of his neck down. Hissing turned out to be the wrong move because Starscream felt Soundwave hold his upper jaw wide open to look at his teeth as he wiggled around and attempted to bite through the rough metal digits that he felt start to palpate around his canines to test how sharp they were. Before Soundwave moved to squeeze his pink paw pads, exposing the hidden retractable claws in between them, and then poked at his blasters. 

“Starscream’s teeth can barely do damage to Soundwave. Claws, blasters, and null rays have all been rendered useless in this small organic-cyber form as well. Conclusion: Starscream should stop fighting Soundwave and be good instead.”

It was still unknown if Soundwave could understand him, but that didn’t stop Starscream from trying. “Meeow. Meow—” (Why the hell would I listen to Megatron’s lapdog of all bots!? ‘Be good?’ More like lay down and show you my belly, so you can stab it. Mark my words, Soundwave, you will pay for this when I—)  

A servo suddenly found its way to the back of his hind legs, scooping them up in one quick, swift motion as if Soundwave had done it before, and started to pet the top of Starscream’s helmet, massaging circles into it. His thumb pressed lightly against the sides and continued to make its way around until it reached his wings, feeling the grooves and texture of them as if they were a freshly unraveled world map. The gray metallic metal was thin and smoother than Soundwave had expected, and it had little rough patches of cracks that formed along its surface. 

Before they knew it, a few nanoseconds had already passed without Starscream fighting to leave Soundwave’s touch or bite at him; however, that didn’t stop the disturbed growl that echoed from his throat as Soundwave continued to explore his second-in-command's newly acquired organic–cyber cat-shaped frame. The growl was coated in the same thick, scratchy static effect that usually followed with the seeker’s normal voice. But as it continued, Starscream started to wonder something. When was the last time he’d allowed someone to get so close to him? Probably never. Not even his trine was allowed to touch him like this without his explicit permission, and in the rare case they were, it wasn’t to the degree Soundwave was. Why was he letting Soundwave do this again?

As he wracked his neural network and motherboard for the answer, his frame had no sooner decided to betray him, and the growling sounds he’d been making earlier gradually began to fade under Soundwave’s heated metal digits. They felt annoyingly comforting against his inorganic metal parts, but also the fluffy, fur-like organic parts Starscream had the immense displeasure of dealing with. The ray gun he’d been working on earlier and planned on using against Megatron to take over as leader of the Decepticons had accidentally transformed him into something similar to the size of a cybercat like Ravage, albeit smaller, and with the outside appearance of an Earthen cat with his color scheme, and his most defining Cybertronian parts: his helmet, wings, and blasters.

Every pet and gentle drag had felt like careful kisses across his frame; the nearness of Soundwave’s frame pressing against him felt like the power of a burning star—a perfect metaphysical union, compensation for Starscream’s current albeit unfortunate situation. Was this what it felt like to have someone close enough to hold you? He’d seen how Thundercracker and Skywarp acted sometimes when they recharged together but never understood the purpose of their actions. Maybe until now. 

Starscream raised a soft, plush, blue paw and started batting against Soundwave’s mouth plate. “Meow. Meow.” (Consider yourself lucky that I, the great Starscream, will let you get away with this for now, Soundwave. You may even be considered an honorable ally of mine because of this.)

Soundwave only let out a small hum and said, “So you can be good.”

Starscream stared at him like he was stupid for not understanding him again. and let out a low chuff. If Soundwave wanted to think of it as him ‘being good,’ then he’d have to let him for now. Less because he felt like starting another pointless argument, but more because he was too lazy to move or use, as Soundwave had unintentionally worded it, ‘his meaningless claws, blasters, and null ray against him.’ Instead he redirected his attention to drowsily scan his current environment, searching for the best spot to sleep on before he settled on the crook of Soundwave’s neck, succumbing to the warm embrace of his third in command. 

Soundwave commemorated the action by allowing Starscream to do as he pleased while he made his way back to his computer to finish some of the paperwork that had been left unattended and scattered all over the floor in favor of coaxing the annoyed seeker that had recently insisted on his gaining attention for the day. The sound of keys clacking was all that could be heard after that, alongside the whirl of Soundwave’s fans and the engine-like purrs that came from Starscream's chassis—it made them both feel at peace, enveloped by the shared kindling of their sparks. 

⊹₊⟡⋆

“Shockwave: Suggests hand-feeding Starscream energon cubes? Not shards?”

“Miniature ones, to be exact. I don't want him to choke on anything. His esophagus is rather small from the scans Hook sent me just now.” Shockwave replied. His single optic flashed with interest as he continued, curving upward a little even. “It's actually quite fascinating, really, how much of his Cybertronian CNA has blended so uniformly with the DNA of a cat on Earth. I do wish that I could be there to aid you, Soundwave.”

“Help is appreciated, but not needed. Starscream is not that hard to handle in his current form.” Soundwave turned his attention away from the large computer screen and back to where Starscream was. Currently, Ravage had been watching over the named anomaly in question, treating him even as if he were her kitten while he furiously tried to escape from her. 

“Meeow!? Meoooow—” ( Ravage, is this absolutely necessary!? Stop this nonsense. I am no kitten. Soundwave, save me—)

Soundwave sighed and sensed there would be trouble if he didn't step in right now, walking over to pick up the now grumpy and saliva-covered Starscream. He thanked him with a single strike of his paw—light and with little intent behind it, more coquettish as if he was embarrassed.

“Starscream: Hungry?”

Starscream made sure to get his point across this time by nipping at Soundwave’s servos. Big red optics staring at him while he did so. Watching as his newly acquired cat slave left with him in tow to get him something to eat while Ravage followed after them.

Turns out hand-feeding Starscream as a cat wasn’t that bad and could be pretty cute, but only if he wasn’t so messy when he ate. Soundwave held back an amused chuckle watching as his second in command sat in front of him covered almost from head to pedes in bright blue energon from his earlier eating session. 

Occasionally a flash of something pink would peak out each time with a swift swipe as he tried to lick it off. There was an overwhelming onslaught of places Starscream needed to clean up, but not enough range of motion or help, much to his annoyance, barely able to move as it stuck to his fur and metal. He looked at Soundwave eventually and stuck a paw out, holding it midair like he was a king waiting to be waited on. “Meow.” (Help me clean it.)

“Does Starscream want Soundwave to help clean his paws?”

“Meow.” (Duh.)

“A bath would be better for Starscream's current status.”

Starscream responded by putting a paw on top of Soundwave's tape deck and pressing hard enough to leave a blue energon-shaped paw print when retracted. He then arrogantly stuck his nose, wings, and tail in the air. “Meow?” (How about you do what your glorious future leader asks of you instead?)

But to Starscream's surprise, Soundwave had ignored his request and walked away without a word. He let out a pitiful meow as a result and started to lick his front paws again, feeling something droop slightly in response with his back wings. All of his previous methods to gain Soundwave’s attention had worked out so far, and the two of them had even managed to develop a rather strong, decent understanding of Starscream’s current wants and needs—the seeker wanted to be taken care of, and the telepath was more than willing for some reason. 

Starscream could usually turn a blind optic away from whatever strange whims that’d appear in his spark whenever standing near Soundwave because it never led anywhere, nor did he want them to. But today, for some reason, he wanted to keep asking if Soundwave would be willing to take care of him despite the unique circumstances and to see if it could’ve led to something eventually. Starscream was someone with arrogant taste and keen senses of superiority above all; it only made sense for someone so wild and unrestrained like him to not understand others and, in turn, for others to not understand him. He wanted to control everything that stood in front of him but lacked the power to do so. And because he wasn’t nearly as capable as Megatron, gradually he’d found his subtle interest in Soundwave to be a hidden necessity, an unrestrained joke despite how exhilarating and exciting it felt whenever he acted on it. The shape of his interest in the other was strange, unimaginable even—something he had no answer for.

Starscream started to growl as a result of his newly realized frustrations, stuck boiling in his own embarrassment and self-wallowing. Maybe deep down a part of him had hoped it wasn’t a total fluke and was not just done because of what Megatron had asked Soundwave to do for him. But the more Starscream thought about it, the more his hope began to diminish, and he realized that to have expected something so genuine from the one he’d always nicknamed Megatron’s lap dog—it was hard to keep pretending. But at least it was a somewhat bearable feeling. 

Until he felt something soft and wet touch his right paw and rub against it, looking up, Starscream saw Soundwave kneeling in front of him again, but this time with a wet cloth in his servo—he’d left to go get something for him, not leave. Slowly, but surely, the confused feline tilted his head at him, watching as his energon-stained paws were reached for and gently held by Soundwave. He stroked the soft, fuzzy fur occasionally with his thumb, cleaning all the remaining energon, probing after to see if there was anything he’d missed in the first initial cleaning inspection. Soundwave then let go of Starscream's paw as if he were a prince helping a princess who’d lost her favorite slipper and had helped her to put it on again. He indicated to be handed another paw to clean. 

Starscream stared at him with an intense look of distrust, but did so as asked. 

Soundwave, in return, held it and lowered his head as if trying to negotiate with a king, “Soundwave: Knows that Starscream likes to clean his servos after eating energon, but he should still take a bath after this.”

He stared at Soundwave and started to blink at him slowly with his optics shining. And when the last part of his cat-like frame had finally finished being cleaned by Soundwave, Starscream trotted forward to nuzzle the white faceplate in front of him, kissing it almost with the tip of his glossa. “Meow. Mrrow.” (Consider yourself lucky you make a decent ally for when I eventually take over Megatron’s role as leader of the Decepticons. If you’re lucky, I’ll even let you be my second in command too.)

Naturally he wouldn’t have been understood, but the gradual freeze in Soundwave’s frame might have suggested otherwise. 

⊹₊⟡⋆

Starscream suddenly understood why Skywarp had always insisted on helping Thundercracker get clean when they were in the wash racks together. It felt nice to have someone help. His limbs, his wings, his entire being—everything had felt like it’d melted into a pool of high-grade energon. He raised a paw at Soundwave’s forearm and stared at him. “...Meow.” (...We should do this more.) 

It seemed even as a cat, he still entirely lacked any sense of shame even in intimate moments like this—the more he opened his mouth, the more chatty he became. As he meowed, his tail stood up high and folded downward until it looked like a question mark, and his back wings flipped with excitement. “Mrrrrrrrrrrawr. Mrrwww. Rrrr.” 

As he got carried away to the point of being untranslatable, he suddenly felt the bot who was helping to bathe him pick him up like he was a soggy wet noodle from above and wrap him in what felt like a fuzzy white towel and walk off somewhere to dry him in private. Unaware of what Soundwave may have been planning, he cried out pitifully, rubbing against his chin. “Meow.” (You’re no fun.)  

Suddenly, it was almost as if Soundwave had understood him and moved to open his tape deck, attempting to even put the cat-shaped Starscream inside of it. However, his efforts were rightfully thwarted as the cat in his arms wailed and wriggled for his spark, howling almost to not die like this. But Soundwave continued to ignore his pitiful pleas for mercy, barely able to keep the wriggling Starscream from slipping away down the halls of the Nemesis. “Starscream: There is no danger when sitting inside my tape deck. Please calm down.”

“Meooooow!? Meeeow. Meooooow?!” (No danger!? Maybe for your cassettes, but I’m no cassette, you incompetent fool! Stupid, stupid. Why did I think you were trustworthy?!) 

“It will be warm. Starscream needs to warm up fast or risk catching a cold or worse, rusting.” 

Reluctantly, Starscream just stared back at him, pawing at the deck to close it, choosing to bet on his dish sized optics being enough to change Soundwave’s mind, and it was. He let out a prideful growl as a result, opting instead to claw his way back into the crook of the other’s neck and stay there, the feeling of warm servos making their way to him again. But this time, instead of trying to put him back into the tape deck, Soundwave moved to have Starscream rest right up against it, an intense wave of heat encapsulating the sleepy, still semi-damp seeker now. Later the feeling of another fresh, soft towel rubbed vigorously against his gray, red, and blue fur before the pressure subsided when it came to his metal like wings, blasters, and helmet. 

A small victory Starscream would happily bathe in again and again. 

⊹₊⟡⋆

Starscream started to yawn as he woke up and moved to rub his optic, surprised to find that he was back to normal now. He scratched the top of his helmet trying to look around and see where he was exactly, and to his surprise it looked like he was in Soundwave’s personal headquarters. More surprising was that Soundwave was still recharging under him, and after thinking about it. His transformation had long reverted, judging by the drool that had trickled down his faceplate and, evidently, later onto Soundwave’s tape deck while they recharged together, stacked on top of each other like matching flat pieces of tableware. 

“How strange,” Starscream muttered to himself. He moved a servo and started to poke at Soundwave’s mouthplate—nudging the piece of metal as if it were a cat toy—it was comical almost. The other felt so warm, radiating a sense of comfort and safety, so much so that Starscream might as well have fallen back into recharge again like a patient winter melting into spring.

But soon he felt the weight of Soundwave’s frame sight as he stirred awake and reached to pat him as if he were still Ravage-sized like before, somewhat teasing him when it was clear he wasn’t anymore. That was new. “You’re still here?” 

“Am I not supposed to?” Starscream grumbled, keeping his vocalizer low so he wouldn’t accidentally start screaming so early in the day. “What, am I too heavy for you? Are you calling me fat!?”

“No.” Soundwave put a firm servo around Starscream’s helmet and started rubbing it; the action was done so swiftly it seemed unconscious, given how he froze and stopped midway through completing it fully.

“What are you doing?”

“...Sorry.”

“I never said you were allowed to stop.”

“Oh."

Starscream blinked at him slowly and put his cheek back onto the surface of Soundwave’s tape deck and started tracing the Decepticon mark on it. “Y’know, I was trying to make something that would turn Megatron into a useless organic cat, so I could declare myself leader, but then it ended up hitting me instead. Can you believe the gall of that guy? Calling me the idiot. He’s the idiot.”

“Starscream: Up to his old tricks again?”

“Keep talking like that and I’ll blast you instead of Megatron this time.” 

“Suggestion: Starscream blasts the Autobots instead of Soundwave with his cat ray.”

“I like your thinking,” Starscream praised and kissed the side of his mouthplate. “We should aim for Skyfire first, though. That’ll show him.”

Soundwave paused before giving in to say, “Optimus Prime may be a better future target.”

“Fine, but after I blast Megatron with it first and hand him off to Prime. The look on that old rust bucket's face will be hilarious, and you know it, Soundwave.”

“Soundwave: Will have to wait and see.”

Chapter Text

Starscream had gone missing. 

The first person to discover it had been Thundercracker. He hurriedly went to go find Skywarp, saying that he couldn’t find their trine leader anywhere or in his normal hiding spots, and Megatron was starting to get annoyed about his disappearance—paranoid that Starscream would attempt to attack him again like last time with his failed cat ray.

When Skywarp heard the news, his first thought had been to check with Starscream’s lab or maybe his recharge area, but inside either residence everything was arranged like usual. Things were how Starscream tended to leave things—chaotic looking, but according to him it was to stop anyone else from interrupting his genius—but his room was neat and clean, and there were no signs of a struggle or attempted kidnapping; the only thing missing was their flamboyant and loud leader telling them to get out. 

“He’s not the type to leave without saying anything,” Thundercracker said, worried. “And I can still feel his presence through our bond, so he must still be around.” 

Skywarp asked, “But where? No, how about with who?”

“It should be Soundwave,” Thundercracker replied, thoughtfully. “Remember how close they’ve become lately? He’s probably hanging out with him right now. They’re together or something, I think.”

“Is that what’s going on? I thought Screamer was trying to become leader of the Decepticons through seduction, and Soundwave doesn’t care to stop him because it’s funny to see the crankshaft try his hardest to look like he has no ulterior motives.” Skywarp was starting to get suspicious. Was there something he’d missed?

“Well, I saw them cuddling once in Starscream’s lab…I think that counts as being together, no?”

“Well, I saw them fighting yesterday and punching each other over something dumb, so.”

Thundercracker was stunned hearing this, “Maybe I was wrong about them then.”

Skywarp was also lost and thought it would have made sense for Starscream to not take any romantic interest in anyone, let alone someone like Soundwave. Those two barely got along. They had too many grievances between them to let bygones be bygones so suddenly—at least that was how it had always been. Again, what changed? 

When he tried to think about anything else semi-related to how Starscream and Soundwave had been acting lately, there was nothing that necessarily stood out to him as out of the ordinary besides Starscream standing beside Soundwave more than usual or them having lunch occasionally. There was certainly no cuddling either, as Thundercracker had claimed to see happening before; the closest might have been whenever Starscream tried to flirt with Soundwave by asking him “how big his spike was” and then proceeded to be told the answer to his question through a punch to the faceplate. Then they’d start arguing and fighting until someone managed to pull them apart and agree to stop yelling insults at each other.

Maybe his conjunx read too many romance novels before berth. He knew Thundercracker liked to speculate who among them could be together or make a good pair—he was already over the moon about Blitzwing and Astrotrain confirming their status as conjunx after so much reluctance to admit to anyone who had optics or a working motherboard that they were indeed together. But his most current obsession was to root for enemies to lovers, and if Skywarp was honest, in a way, Starscream and Soundwave did fit that description a little.

However, not one person on the base would assume those two were together or ideal for each other, whistling their whims and shared grievances on good and bad nights or circling their servo when no one was looking as if they weren’t at war as a demonstration of their love. A relationship labeled so clearly it was transparent, and if the other were to vanish, to perish utterly, only Primus himself would have understood the anguish that was caused when he woke to it. Where, while it’s only felt once, the marks it leaves are permanent and everlasting. 

Neither seeker spoke, and the room filled with an awkward silence.

“Let's go and search for Soundwave then,” Thundercracker eventually suggested. “The base can be pretty big after all. Maybe Starscream accidentally got himself locked in a closet and is too busy screaming that whoever locked him in there will rue the day they did this. Instead, y’know, remembering that he could always contact us to go and save him.”

Skywarp suddenly snorted. “Yeah, because he’s a big dumb blockhead who screams first and then thinks later.” 

⊹₊⟡⋆

Soundwave was in the middle of working on something when Thundercracker and Skywarp had appeared before him with a peculiar question—where was Starscream? When they first asked him, Soundwave was confused as to why they would have come to him in the first place.

But then when Soundwave recalled how he and Starscream had been acting lately since he was accidentally turned into a cat and the incident remained contained between the two of them, Shockwave, Hook, and Megatron since then, Starscream had finally started warming up to the telepath—between ally and subordinate. 

So when he calculated how both he and Starscream had encouraged and nurtured whatever relationship they may or may not have been having, maybe it made sense for Thundercracker and Skywarp to have asked him where Starscream was. Soundwave could only shake his head and acknowledge that he did not know where the missing seeker was or could have been after thinking about it and checking the security footage of their base.

“Really?” Skywarp stood next to him.

“You’d think someone like him wouldn’t be able to hide for so long without making a fuss.” Thundercracker grumbled. “It’s already been a few jours since I’ve seen him, but through our bond he’s perfectly fine. There are no emotional fluctuations in his spark or his EM field.”

Soundwave stared at Thundercracker and asked, “Bond?”

But no one gave him a real explanation, and Skywarp ignored him in favor of responding to Thundercracker, “Then he’s probably asleep. You know he forgets to eat sometimes when he’s working on his inventions. You worry about him too much, TC.” 

“I can’t help it!” Thundercracker whined. “Remember that time he thought it’d be funny to prank Shockwave and then got caught!? We had to deal with his non-stop complaints until he was finally over whatever punishment that crazed purple maniac decided to enact on him out of revenge.”

“And? He survived. Plus, we already know he’s doing fine through our shared bond. Starscream should know how to handle himself by now, TC. What are you, his carrier?!”

“No, but—”

“Bond?” Soundwave tried again. “Starscream has a bond with his trine?” 

He knew it wasn’t the best practice to ask others about their close relationships; it was frowned upon even to ask so directly, but he couldn't help but ask out of curiosity. Starscream and his trine had always seemed close; however, that was all he could have figured out. Soundwave himself had no clue what kind of relationship it really was between all three, or rather if it was something beyond closeness and more gravitational in nature.

“Oh—yeah, sorry about that, Soundwave.” Thundercracker, said, embarrassed. ” He rubbed the back of his helmet and continued, “We’re a bonded trine technically. We've known Starscream since he was young. Our bond goes way back.” 

Skywarp rolled his optics and sneered. “Unfortunately.”

Things were starting to sound even stranger, and Soundwave’s confusion only increased. Maybe if he knew more about how trines worked in any other context, he’d have understood what they meant by “he’s doing fine through our shared bond.” However, if it was analyzed with the whole situation and past transgressions taken into account, what if he didn’t like the answer?

It seemed too far-fetched to assume that a trine bond was on the same level as a conjunx endura, but it wasn't entirely inapplicable either and could have easily also fallen under the same category of closeness for seekers, which made Soundwave feel even more confused, albeit a little peeved.

What was he to Starscream? That was the question Soundwave started to ask himself as he watched the seeker’s trine members leave and told him to keep an eye out for the currently missing Starscream.

He and Starscream never fully discussed if things were supposed to be different after the seeker had accidentally turned himself into a cat and decided to act spoiled for the time being. At first, after the situation had been resolved, or rather, Starscream had finally managed to return back to his normal and winged form, there was certainly a change in their dynamic, but at the same time, Starscream had a tendency to never confirm or deny his intentions with the other. 

So in order to avoid any potential conflicts, Soundwave never bothered to ask either. And the only thing Starscream ever did after that was insist on leaning against Soundwave’s frame when he was bored, wanting to play with his tape deck, or breaking into his berth because he didn't like sleeping alone anymore. The whole situation was confusing without a clear label as to what they were now, but it was not unwanted either, and no matter what had changed, they’d already started to get along like this, they could only continue to do so. 

At least that’s how it was supposed to be; the two of them had gotten into an argument over something petty yesterday during dinner, and all Soundwave could recall is how upset Starscream was at his answer.

Soundwave felt his faceplate start to scrunch up out of frustration as he recalled what exactly had happened. His right optic still hurt as well from where the seeker had punched him. He didn’t know if this was Starscream’s way of expressing his dissatisfaction with him or if the seeker simply needed time to himself to cool off before barreling in again for another round.

However, remembering how Starscream’s narrowed optics had looked and the flapping wings behind him, it seemed his dismissal of spending time with the seeker later that week for something special had pissed him off—or had caused him a great deal of emotional turmoil. And all Soundwave had done was acknowledge he would have been busy that day and had no time to be around for whatever Starscream was planning. 

The seeker’s attitude had only plummeted even further, and his anger had nearly boiled over until he tackled Soundwave and started hurling all different kinds of meaningless insults and physical attacks before he decided it was best to leave and treat his own injuries. It was extremely quiet after that, and Soundwave’s berth was missing a certain invasive seeker too. Even when he woke up, there was no one recharging on top of him like a heavy weighted blanket or at his side clinging to him like a wrench monkey.

Maybe his cassettes knew where Starscream might have been.

But when they didn’t and asked why he was looking for the guy, he was a little unsure how to approach the topic yet until they asked if they were still fighting. And after listening to his reason as to why they fought, Frenzy said with a frown, “Just let him stay mad, Boss. If he wants to hide from everyone, then let him hide from everyone.”

Rumbled nodded. “Yeah, why do you care so much about how he feels? You two were on the floor scraping about it last night. You’ve never cared this much about him before.”

“Correct: But Starscream is missing and possibly up to no good.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the full truth either. It was true that he never cared much for Starscream’s feelings, but it was concerning to not have seen him since their last argument. So Soundwave decided it was best to leave and said his goodbyes. 

By now the sun had started to set, and the sky had turned completely dark, but there was still no Starscream in sight or Starscream that had been remembered to be seen by anyone today. It was like he’d never existed. His snarky, high-pitched voice echoed against Soundwave’s helmet, servos aching for something to do or something to mess with if he could, but he never dared to take Soundwave’s servos.

Maybe he knew how that could have been interpreted; the ritual and closeness that came with holding another's servo and never dared to overstep. Soundwave never did either; he wasn’t sure if it was allowed yet. Servos held. Secrets revealed. A gift. A demonstration of love. It’s all he could think about sometimes when Starscream recharged by his side.

When Megatron asks what their relationship is out of concern for Soundwave, he says that he doesn't know yet, but he wants more. He wants something to look forward to when all of this is done. And maybe that is Starscream.

After circling the majority of the base, checking it from top to bottom, and employing Laserbeak and Buzzsaw in his search from above, there is still no sign of Starscream, and Soundwave decides to head back to his quarters at the very least. That might as well have been the last place to have been checked.

But like he expected, there is no sign of life or intrusion; everything was how he’d left it, and Soundwave begins to feel frustrated all over again. He wanted to rest his servos on Starscream’s shoulders and shake him for vanishing and for walking away how he did, but knowing in a way it was also his own fault for not seeking out the one who’d always sought him out first until now, maybe this was deserved.

However suddenly the sound of something moving was picked up by his auditory receptors, and Soundave hurried over to see what it was. And to his surprise, underneath the blankets that Starscream insisted should be left on Soundwave’s berth, there was a shape, and that shape started to move, or rather, wriggled around.

“Mrrowww.” (What time is it? Primus, how long have I been recharging…and why am I still a cat!? I blame Soundwave.”

“Starscream?” 

“Meow.” (Oh no, I think he heard that. Maybe if I pretend to recharge, he’ll leave me alone. I'm so smart.)

Soundwave held back a laugh and sat down on the berth, pulling off the blankets to expose a certain and comfortable curled-up ball of fluff. Starscream stared back at him with a look of embarrassment, only able to stare back at him out of disbelief as if this was the last thing he’d expected.

“Starscream: Likes my berth?”

“Meow…” (No…)

“Soundwave has been looking for you. Starscream's trine too.”

“Meow? Mrrwo!?” (What? Those two losers actually bothered to look for me instead of kissing because I'm not there to tell them to stop!?)

"Thundercracker and Skywarp are conjunx?"

"Meooow." (Duh and I'm the fool stuck listening to them flirt through our trine bond, it's so annoying. I hate it. They're even doing it right now, that's why I woke up. Ew Skywarp is bullying TC again with his dumb nicknames. Hold on, I'mma tell them to shut up.)

However Soundwave after hearing that moved to hold Starscream; he even pressed his now-exposed faceplate and used it to nuzzle the still sleepy and confused-looking seeker all over and said. “Soundwave is glad you’re okay.” At least now, he had a clearer idea what Starscream's trine meant to him, and his meaning to them. Even if brief, that was all Soundwave needed to hear and relax the anxious beat of his spark.

“Mrow?” (What did something happen?)

“You didn't return to the berth and were missing all day. Soundwave thought, you were hiding from him on purpose.”

“Meow!?” (What!?”)

“Soundwave thought Starscream was still mad.” He plopped onto the berth after that and continued to hold the other in his grasp, hesitant to even let go as if he'd vanish, never to be seen again. “Soundwave was worried you were still mad at him.”

“Meow…meow.” (You stupid idiot. Why in the world would I still be mad at you? Look at you, you're even crying.)

Starscream stared at Soundwave but pushed his faceplate forward in an attempt to wipe away the tears that had started to form and leak down. He'd managed to find a way, albeit maybe not in the most practical way. But it was an attempt by attempting to lick at them with his barbed-like glossa before deciding to maybe just use his blue plush paws instead, and it made Soundwave laugh enough to the point he reached a servo forward and pet Starscream's fluffy cat-like ears.

“Then why didn't Soundwave see you last night or this morning?”

“Mrrow. Merrow.” (Oh, I accidentally fell asleep in my lab because I was mad at you.)

“...So Starscream was mad and hiding from Soundwave on purpose?”

“Meoooow. Meow. Mrooowo. Meow. Meow. Mrrow. Meowow!?” (You were being mean earlier to me, so I didn't want to recharge with you, that’s all! And for the record, I wasn’t hiding from you on purpose. I woke up like this and came here to hide before anyone saw me. It’s bad enough Megatron knows I accidentally turned myself into a cat. Now imagine what would happen if he found out I accidentally turned into one again and don’t know why or how!?)

Soundwave paused and looked at Starscream’s scrunched whiskers. He had completely forgotten that Starscream wasn’t supposed to be a cat right now; in fact, his transformation wasn’t supposed to still be an issue and hadn’t been for vorns. It would be a disaster if word got out, more if the Autobots heard. And he’d forgotten that fact amidst his immense and sudden joy from finally finding and being able to hold Starscream after so long. But that didn't stop him from pushing his nose into Starscream’s soft and fluffy belly fur or ignoring the battering of blue-colored paws that tapped at him for daring to do that.

“Starscream: Does not know why this happened?’ Soundwave softly, his voice was muffled by the sea of fur; he insisted on staying pressed against. “This has never happened until now?”

“Meooow.” (I woke up like this. Thought I'd go back to normal if I recharged again, but clearly not.)

Soundwave was about to respond, but then out of nowhere the once-transformed Starscream had turned back, and he was faceplate to faceplate with the seeker’s yellow canopy; a servo was on top of his helmet as well, tight and controlling. “Well, would you look at that? I’m back to normal. Are you ready to pay for your recent actions now, Soundwave!?”

He tries not to feel a twinge of disappointment that Starscream was no longer as easy to hold or as soft, but the metal pressed against him is almost as comforting, if not more tempting, to mess with. Soundwave raised his head and said, joyfully. “Yes, but only if we can stay like this a little longer…”

Starscream stared at him like he had just asked him to do something uncalled for or had been replaced by one of those squishy things called humans and murmured. “...I’ll think about it.” The seeker took hold of Soundwave’s servos after that until their digits and palms were sandwiched together like glue and whispered, “How long is a ‘little longer’ though?”

“Long enough to make up for Starscream going missing all day and making Soundwave sleep alone.” 

Maybe now was the best time to start putting labels on their “close relationship” after all. And it’s somewhere hidden in between the warmth of their now overlapping frames, combined with the way Starscream kisses his cheek, grumbling about how empty his lab was last night without Soundwave there to keep him company.

Chapter Text

“I have nothing to do with this, Starscream said. “You believe me, right?”

“Soundwave: Knows and understands.”

“Okay, good, because I'm really confused about what happened.”

“Soundwave: Confused too.” 

They were supposed to receive a package from Cybertron in exchange for the supply of energon cubes they had managed to collect amidst the earlier chaos of their most recent battle with the Autobots. It had been to a somewhat varying degree of success for the most part and ended when Starscream and Soundwave had managed to corner Blaster and Jazz before the two escaped and left behind some energon cubes.

Up until then, everything had been going rather well. But now, they weren’t so sure anymore because in place of the extra supplies and Cybertronian technology they were promised to receive was a bunny.

A rather large and fluffy-looking bunny as well. This bunny had stared at them rather strangely too and continued to stare at them with its single yolk-like optic and the hexagon-shaped visor it rested in. The resemblance this “bunny” had to Shockwave was uncanny as well, considering even when they started to consider that whatever they were looking at may have indeed been him after all. And that left Soundwave and Starscream more unsure than ever on what to do if it was actually Shockwave sitting in front of them like that.

In theory, the appearance of the bunny would have matched Shockwave, the purple fur, the yellow optic that stared at them as if they were illogical fools, but maybe the final nail in the coffin had been when the so-called mech modulated bunny twitched its ears ever so slightly in their direction every time they mentioned the name “Shockwave” or “Megatron.” However, that proved to be rather fruitless the moment it seemed to understand what they were doing and stopped responding out of pettiness.

Okay, maybe it really was Shockwave.

“How in the world did he turn himself into a bunny?” Starscream gasped. “This is the Shockwave of all bots. There is no way he’d have done this on purpose.”

“Query: Shockwave attempted to do an experiment, and it backfired? Similar to Starscream’s situation.”

“Okay, but listen here, Soundwave. I was turned into a cat because I wanted to blast Megatron before it backfired. But it should just be Shockwave up there on Cybertron. And on a nearly empty one too, so what in the world could have happened?”

Soundwave seemed to notice something as he suddenly said, “Gone.”

Starscream looked at him with confusion written all over his faceplate as he asked, “What?”

“Shockwave gone.”

“Gone!?” Starscream screeched. But when he turned his head over to where Shockwave was supposed to have been. The seeker started to pace back and forth until his steps formed a complete circle. “Megatron is going to kill us… No, he’s going to kill me first… Soundwave, this is all your fault.” 

“Mine!?” Soundwave said. He grabbed Starscream by the shoulders and repeated, “Soundwave is at fault?”

“Yes! What do you mean by 'he's gone'? There’s no way he could have gotten that far, Soundwave! He’s a bunny. How far can a bunny even hop?” 

“Starscream has a point…” 

⊹₊⟡⋆

Quietly, the purple fur fiend began to hop around without a care or concern; it had no clue where it was supposed to go, but it did understand what little value there was in listening to the two mechs it saw in front of it argue—unaware that the very bunny they were arguing over was leaving them behind.

“What’s a bunny doing out here in the woods?” Wheeljack asked. He bent down to try and pick it up, and to his surprise, it just stared at him like he was an annoyance. How strange, it had an awful resemblance to a certain one-optic mad scientist, he sort of knew, but what were the chances? Shockwave was supposed to be on Cybertron, not Earth. He wouldn’t have left his post on purpose, not with their current war. 

Well, whatever it was, it couldn’t have actually been Shockwave. He’d have to take it back to the base and show Ratchet first for a second opinion.

However, it seemed everyone else had a different idea or theory than Wheeljack.

“That’s clearly Shockwave,” Ratchet said. “Come on, look at him.”

Wheeljack looked down at the bunny in his arms and said, “Okay, maybe it has some resemblance to Shockwave. But it’s not as mean as—hey, stop that!?” He frowned in response to the sudden sensation of something starting to violently kick and slam against his servos. 

Shockwave, however, took it as a sign to continue and attempted to box Wheeljack or, at the very least, show his displeasure at his fellow scientist's words and then continued once they locked optics. 

“Well, I was going to say you’re a lot cuter like this, but never mind,” Wheeljack said with a huff. His finials lit up as he spoke, flashing bright blue while Ratched held his wrench in anticipation; maybe he was looking forward to smacking the bunnified purple Decepticon scientist too, just maybe.

“Oh, like that’s going to make him calm—” Ratchet started off and then paused when he saw how Shockwave began to calm down and snuggle into Wheeljack’s arms like it was a safe space. ”Well, would you look at that.”

“Maybe he likes compliments?” 

“I never took Shockwave for the type.”

“Well, I don’t think anyone would have taken him as the type to turn himself into a bunny either.”

Ratchet shook his head. “True, he’s usually not this dumb. No one is, unless they’re Starscream.”’

Wheeljack jumped. “Hey, say that again.”

“What ‘Starscream?’”

“No, the word ‘dumb.’ I don’t think he likes being called dumb, look.”

And to both of their surprises, Shockwave started to thump his pede against the table Wheeljack had just put him on. “He started thumping, or tried to, so I put him here. I think he’s mad. Listen, he’s even growling too, Ratchet.”

“Because he’s dumb?”

“Hey—hey, stop that. He’s just a bunny right now, you know, like the ones on those Earth shows with the nature documentaries.”

“Your point?”

“Bunnies can be rather cute.” 

Ratchet gave him a strange look as if that was the last thing he expected to hear. “Well, you better start telling that to Prime, not me, Wheeljack.”

⊹₊⟡⋆

“Meow. Meowow.” (Ow.)

“Starscream: Needs to hold still.”

“Meow. Meooooow!” (I’m trying, but it hurts.)

Soundwave shook his head but continued to do his best to remove the brown spiky burrs that had embedded themselves into Starscream’s fluffy fur. Prior, the seeker had started freaking out the more they searched and realized that Shockwave had managed to escape them, and the next thing they knew, he’d returned to his cat form.

By now they should have come to expect it, but still it came as a surprise to the both of them how fast Starscream could turn into a cat, if anything at all. A soft and four-legged-looking Earthen creature with Cybertronian features, however, did little to stop his lover from complaining or getting into trouble like always. And today was no different when Soundwave watched Starscream trip over his wings, unable to handle the weight still in his cat form, and roll down a hill; it may have been comical if only the telepath didn’t have to go after him or try to break his fall while they both rolled down together.

At first, Soundwave thought the prickly objects could be removed with a firm tug, but that proved to be fruitless when Starscream started to cry and squirm, anything to escape the sharp tugging of his poor gray and blue fur. A bath would be in his future at this rate; worse would be if Soundwave tried to put him inside his tape deck.

“Hold still.” Soundwave, he repeated. Finally, he’d been able to start removing the annoying objects from Starscream’s fur and sighed. “Be good.” He chided.

“Meooooowowowowo.” (But it hurts, you idiot. These stupid things are going to make me go bald at this rate.)

“Starscream won’t go bald.” 

“Meow.” (I will, and then you won’t love me.)

A firm kiss was placed onto the top of Starscream’s head following that annoyed, sad meow. He looked up to see Soundwave with his mouthplate off and to the side; the other had a smile on his face as he bent down to leave another kiss. 

This time, however, he made sure to add, “Starscream is still the most handsome to Soundwave.” 

“Mrrow.” (Well, it is me you’re kissing.) 

The catified seeker started to purr and turned around to meet Soundwave’s exposed face, even pawing at it with his gray and pink paw pads, interested in seeing how it’d feel against them. On any other day, if given the chance, Starscream would have used servos to touch Soundwave like this, but since he was now a cat, this was all he could have managed for now—it’s not new, but it feels like every time he does it.

But then Soundwave took it as the opportunity to pick him up and hold him close like a baby against his tape deck. He laughed in response to Starscream’s confused blinking and red optics; they were wide and giant when staring up at him as if he couldn't believe what was happening or how he was being treated right now. However, despite his initial reaction, Starscream took it as an opportunity to start batting his paws against Soundwave’s face again and purred like an engine. 

“Mrrooow,” Starscream began to tease. (Cat slave.)

“Cat attendant.” Soundwave responded and began to pepper Starscream with more kisses, his own engine purring even in response to their shared interaction as he pushed his nose into the seeker’s fur and touched his paws. “Starscream’s cat attendant.”

The ability to purr was something Soundwave had accidentally picked up from his time with Ravage before meeting Megatron. In a way, he was a cat himself, if anything but appearance. So, he took a liking to Starscream’s newest form, though the seeker would have argued otherwise; still, despite the randomness of it all, it had its perks. And time to be enjoyed.

“Meow?” (Say, where do you think Shockwave even went?)

“Shockwave could be back at Decepticon base. He is logical like that.”

⊹₊⟡⋆

Wheeljack had a problem. Prime and everyone else were currently out fighting Megatron, and Ratchet was out with them too, so that meant he was the only one currently watching the Autobot base, but that wasn’t the main problem. The problem was whatever Shockwave was doing right now. He seemed hell-bent on trying to stick his optic into or slam into everything he could get his single optic on, but if that was intentional or not, the only Autobot around had no clue.

“Bad Shockwave!” Wheeljack cried out and moved to tackle the purple bunny menace. He let out a low groan in response to hitting the floor; the cherry on top had been when Shockwave jumped on top of his head and stared at him before hopping off. “Who knew you’d be so expressive!?”

The scientist got up after that and started to scratch his head. Maybe Ratchet was right; the only reason Wheeljack thought that a bunny-turned-Shockwave would be easier to handle when compared to something like the Dinobots was pure wishful thinking on his part.

A while ago, he’d been trying to figure out if Shockwave was cognitive enough to recognize him or at least understand his current situation, but that proved to be a worthless endeavor when Wheeljack watched Shockwave try to jump onto a table on his own and slip. He had slipped so badly that the tray of energon gummies he’d been potentially aiming to inspect came crashing down with him like a block of dominos and knocked him out cold. 

Then what followed after was Wheeljack doing his best to stop Shockwave from accidentally offlining himself or at least trying to get him to hold still before he got hurt when he found his way into different cabinets and wires.

Who knew a single bunny could be so chaotic, let alone Shockwave as a bunny? 

“Gotcha, ya!” Wheeljack exclaimed and looked down into his arms. Shockwave looked back at him, annoyed, and tried to wriggle away again but failed when Wheeljack got a better grip on him and sighed. “I’m not going to hurt you. Work with me here a little, please.”

And to his surprise, Shockwave did. He began to relax and propped his chin and paws onto the top of Wheeljack’s arms, comfortably being held and supported by the other—for whatever reason a certain someone had decided this wasn’t so bad, going as far as to make a purring sound.

Confused but tempted, Wheeljack tried to pet Shockwave, curious if the bunnified Decepticon scientist was still mad at him for forgetting he had no mouth technically, so there was no need to feed him. Earlier when he’d tried to feed Shockwave, it’d earned him a sharp roundhouse kick to the mouthplate, and maybe, just maybe, it’d been deserved like Ratchet had insisted when he had been forced to bear witness to the duo’s nonsense. But that didn’t stop the throb in Wheeljack’s lower jaw from reminding him that Shockwave could always have kicked him harder, yet didn’t.

So far nothing had happened in response to how Wheeljack had started petting the large and almost plush-looking Shockwave, who began to melt almost under his touch, or the soon-provided and enjoyed neck scratches. It was hard to believe Shockwave was real when held like this, but he was real, and he was really soft.

“Hmm. This is giving me an idea now.” Wheeljack said. “Hey, Shockwave. Want to try something with me?”

Shockwave, however, ignored him—too comfortable to move, too comfortable to complain, too illogical of him to try and escape now. 

⊹₊⟡⋆

Holding all different shades of colors in his servos, Wheeljack was starting to wonder if he should have been a fashion designer instead of a scientist. Originally, his intention had been to sit down and watch some movies while he petted Shockwave, but then all of a sudden he had a sudden burst of creativity and wanted to see how the giant and fluffy purple bunny would look in a bow, or rather, an oversized ribbon around his neck.

But who knew Shockwave was picky? There was an immediate thumbs down whenever Wheeljack tried to show him a color or put it on, or rather, there was an immediate thump of his foot and a thick growl from Shockwave’s vocalizer whenever he didn’t like what Wheeljack showed him. It was worse if he tried to put it on him too.

Green? No. Red? No. Yellow, perhaps? Again, no. Maybe try again, Autobot.

“You’re driving me nuts here, Shockwave!?” Wheeljack grumbled. If he had to witness one more ribbon get stomped on or kicked to the side, he might start to see all different sorts of colors in his recharge. “Just pick something, please?”

Finally, as if tired of playing with him, Shockwave started to hop forward and stopped in front of an orange ribbon. He looked at Wheeljack as if to say, How pathetic.

“About time.” Wheeljack said, laughing. “And here I was thinking you’d never pick something.” 

He bent down, taking the orange ribbon into his servos, and used it to wrap around Shockwave’s neck—or rather, his neck fluff—before laughing again at the cute sight of the purple bunny in front of him, who started to hop around while sporting a giant, albeit slightly comical, orange bow around his neck.

Sometimes it was the little things that made life joyful.

⊹₊⟡⋆

From the moment he began to boot up, Shockwave was confused about what had happened while he was out. Before, he’d been in the middle of looking at the cat ray gun Starscream had been kind enough to lend him, if not at least to figure out why the transformation caused by it was still plaguing his circuits. Interested in how the technology worked, Shockwave accepted it without hesitation, but what had happened after was a mistake, and it ended up hitting him as well—going as far as to turn him into a bunny.

How strange, Shockwave thought. He had no real recollection, too, of what had happened after that; the most he’d been able to make out was how his newly acquired body began to hop around out of curiosity, accidentally beaming itself to Earth and appearing in front of Starscream and Soundwave of all bots.

For just a moment, Shockwave had felt like something was missing. There should have been more to his memories, the sensation of someone petting him, maybe trying to feed him but then remembering that he had no mouth. What followed after was more chaos and kindness moved out of genuine interest—nothing else. And maybe he had even been called cute in that form.

Cute enough to be given a ribbon to wear and watch movies with later. They were all bunny-themed movies too because someone had insisted Shockwave needed to learn how to be a proper bunny in the future in case this happened again. 

But what did a movie about a bunny who wanted to become a police officer have to do with him? Or a movie about bunnies who went to war; okay, maybe that one was rather logical to view, but rather bloody, so they didn’t finish it despite his attempts to continue watching it through the rather large and incoming servo that covered his single-optic view. Not appropriate, that person had said. 

Shockwave paused after that realization and attempted to look down, where wrapped around his neck was a bright orange bow; it was tangerine-colored and looked almost soft to the touch. 

Cautiously, Shockwave brought his servo to it and tried to get a better look at it through his single optic, trying to remember just who had given it to him. It was on the tip of his brain circuits and continued to be like that, no matter how much Shockwave began to pinch and twist the edge of the ribbon between his digits.

It moves with him until he manages to loosen it enough and removes it with a single tug; the ribbon falls apart in seconds, unraveling until it is nothing more than a limp piece of fabric, falling to the ground. Yet the distinct smell of polish remained; it clung to it as it wanted to spare him the pain of not being able to remember who had given it—Wheeljack. 

But Shockwave’s nature was Shockwave’s nature. Like everything, his actions and beliefs had to be logical; there was no room for error or potentially illogical things. To believe that what they had shared earlier was genuine or should be had again, to crave it again, to lean, to bend until he could no longer recognize himself until he died.

He stared at it a little longer, almost hesitant on what to do next, but after a while bent down to pick it up. Shockwave continued to analyze the ribbon, running his gun across the top of it as he walked over to where a trash should have been; if he let go of it now, then that’d be the end of it. There it would have fallen with the rest of his failed and forgotten inventions or blueprints, inside those pockets of dust and bolts, condensing together in the dark with only the glow of an orange piece of fabric to tie it all together.

“How illogical of me.” Shockwave said out loud to himself but continued to stare at the orange ribbon almost out of solidarity before deciding what to finally do with it. “Most inferior.”

Chapter Text

Soundwave laid on the edge of his berth, trying to fall into recharge, but failing miserably. He wanted nothing more to shut his optics or to find a way to rearrange his frame into a more comfortable position of relaxation, but struggled to do so because Starscream was cozy. And he knew if there was even a shift of movement, all he would hear is a meowing seeker or receive an angry blue paw to his faceplate. 

If he thought about what had been happening for the past three cycles, maybe he’d find a way to fall asleep faster. For a while, the seeker in question would poof back into his cat form at the most random times. 

The first time happened right after they had a meeting with Megatron, they were supposed to go over battle plans or a way to increase their energon supplies for the month. Without question an argument had broken out between the two mechs until Soundwave stepped in to help Starscream out, and had to watch how their ever so graceful leader Megaton fell to his knees in despair in front of them.

Apparently also telling Megatron that he and Starscream together this way had caused more of a shock than expected.

“Soundwave, you and Starscream…” He started to look up at them from the floor, casting his shocked gaze between the ever so smug looking seeker and silent, but nodding communication officer, “...when did this happen? No, why did this happen!?”

The “this” in question had been naturally their relationship and Soundwave knew sooner or later it’d have to be confirmed, but neither had expected it to have been that soon or to come from the both of them, let alone Soundwave. But he knew if it wasn’t him who tried to at least hint or confirm his intentions and seriousness about Starscream to Megatron then worst case scenario, someone else would have for him. Or, Starscream would be Starscream and open his big mouth (getting them into bigger trouble). 

“I don’t know…” Starscream said for a while. Originally, he’d had his arms crossed in response to Megatron’s reaction to the news of his two commanding officers having gotten together without his knowledge until now. “It kinda just happened and Soundwave was the one who initiated it. Isn’t that right my dear?”  

“Affirmative.” 

“Who's the scrap metal now, Megatron?” Starscream mocked, hoping his words came out as piercing and annoying as he sounded with his vocal cords. He started waving a blue servo into the air after, pretending to still be surprised about his supposed and now confirmed relationship status with Soundwave. “I didn’t even need to do anything. Besides, be handsome.” 

If Megatron had thought the idea of Starscream and Soundwave was already ridiculous enough to imagine or hear about, then the realization that he might as well have been the one to push the two of them together was inevitable, but devastating and possibly maybe even a prank. Yet, there was Soundwave, his most loyal soldier, who had been nodding and even admitting that he had indeed pursued Starscream and on his own time. There were even no complaints or awkward shifts when Soundwave spoke or stood by Starscream.

He was telling the truth, they were together and happy. This wasn't a prank.

Megatron eventually gave up trying to understand why Soundwave of all mechs would choose someone like Starscream to chase after and started to mutter, “I led a fox into the hen house…” as he sat there on the floor, curled in a ball, tears streaming down his faceplate.  “...I led Starscream to Soundwave.”

Starscream scoffed. “Oh please. I’m a great catch. If anything, Soundwave is the fox here. Not me.”

Soundwave tried to help Megatron up and said, “Soundwave: Did what he thought would be best for himself and his happiness. Starscream just happened to be who he chose to pursue and was successful.”

“I believe you, Soundwave. It’s just…” Megatron’s tone dropped in volume. He let the sentence end right there and then, hoping what he’d been trying to imply was picked up on by his communication officer. But when Soundwave started to tilt his head like a confused cat, he gave up and said, “Don’t let me find the two of you using this as a way to undermine my leadership in the near future. Soundwave, from now on. I expect you to hold Starscream in line.”

“Soundwave: Understands.”

Starscream put on his most offended expression, preparing to tear Megatron a new piece of metal. “Why, I would never dare to undermine your great leadership! Neither would Soundwave. I mean look at him…” He did a dramatic sigh after, finding it fun to play up his next words, “...but in case you were curious, I make sure Soundwave is well taken care of, so he won’t try anything in the future.” 

Of course, Megatron wasn’t, in fact, he didn’t want to know how “well” those two got along or their methods to keep each other in line, so he forced himself to storm out of the room in a huff. But the steam that came out of vents was a clear enough indicator that whatever Starscream may have been going after with his choice of words, had indeed been achieved. 

Maybe he’d planned on messing with Megatron a little more and wanted some alone time with Soundwave, maybe he’d wanted to ensure that they could talk soon. But the truth was, there was no way Starscream could have predicted his sudden re-transformation into his cat form. In that moment, the cunning Starscream had been reduced into nothing more than a meowing and winged nuisance who pawed at Soundwave. It didn’t take a genius or someone well-versed in cat language to understand what that the catified seeker was asking to be picked up right now.

If Soundwave hadn’t been so worried about Megatron’s reaction to the news, he might have allowed himself to say more in response to Starscream’s meows, but still he did his best to comply with his lover’s request by picking him up as requested. Cradled into his arms was now a fluffy creature of destruction, blue paws stretched far out into the air and the tip of a pink glossa peeking out. 

Starscream knew how to cut Soundwave’s spark into a million different pieces looking like that. More specifically, he knew how to take advantage of the other’s love and affection for cat shaped things; a proper blend or merge of both worlds by snuggling into the crook of his neck. 

“Meow.” (I told you, he’d freak out.)

Soundwave shook his head despite it all and ignored the constantly shuffling of metal and fur in his arms. The initial anxiety he’d been feeling all day about his meeting with Megatron and Starscream had finally started to subside. Just days ago, he’d been arguing with Starscream about whether or not it was appropriate to tell their leader that they were together now or at least that they were serious about being together. 

Starscream argued it was better to ease Megatron into it, or to just never mention it at all, but Soundwave would have preferred to just drop the news and deal with it then and there. He'd handle the consequences as they came at them. Starscream would do the same, or so he argued in the end.

He still wasn’t sure who had been right in the end, the both of them had gotten their feelings about each other across to Megatron and now the cat was out of the bag. Well, the one in regards to their relationship, the cat in Soundwave’s arms was better kept in his tape deck, and out of trouble.

⊹₊⟡⋆

The second time Starscream transformed into a cat may have been more because of an accidental bout of pettiness because Soundwave had been ignoring him during a movie date. He felt embarrassed to admit how engrossed he was with the plot of whatever they’d been watching that night and that he wasn’t sure what Starscream had been planning exactly, but had assumed in the end it was probably supposed to be romantic until it wasn’t because of his own involvement.

However, whatever had been planned by Starscream must have ended up failing and Soundwave found himself sitting next to an angry and huffy winged cat instead of a pouting and nagging Starscream. And after the scratches on his servos and cheek had been bandaged up, Soundwave managed to toss a blanket on top of the still angry and catified seeker. He then wrapped Starscream with it until he looked more like a burrito than a ball of fluff, holding onto the angry seeker in his arms up to the near climax of the movie. And Soundwave moved to put him in between his thighs for the meantime.

His optics lingered for a while on the television in front of him before realizing Starscream had stopped moving, and had fallen asleep in his lap. There was a gentle purring that seemed to fill the silence between them, which made Soundwave feel as if there was supposed to again be more to this night, but it hadn’t been able to happen. Suddenly he felt rather curious. It made him also feel tempted to poke the sleeping beast in his lap or wonder why Starscream had planned a movie night, just the two of them, no one else allowed (but them). 

“Starscream” Soundwave asked, softly. “Asleep?” 

A sleepy meow was all he managed to make out in response. How cute, Soundwave thought after hearing that. He moved his servos, placing them around the scruff of Starscream’s neck, pulling at it almost as if it were a piece of aluminum, trying to see if the seeker was actually asleep—it looked comical almost. 

The air outside was still cold. And the frost that formed around the outside layers of their underground base was like a cold winter’s kiss. It felt reminiscent of the first time Soundwave had encountered snow since arriving on Earth. Parts of that day still remained rather dormant in his mind or even the memory of it. His cassettes ran across the snow, prepared to launch a full scale war against any Decepticon who got in their way or came across their path. 

It was a war zone that day. 

But Starscream was the only one who refused to go outside as if the sight of snow had carved itself a piece of unchanged history into his circuits. His cankerous gaze and matching frown in response to Skywarp and Thundercracker trying to drag him outside, who were for the most part ecstatic to play with something so new and cold, but wanted their trine leader to join in on the fun too. Things might not have gone as smoothly or as interesting if Soundwave hadn’t been the one to launch a snowball straight at Starscream’s faceplate—earning the tri-colored seeker’s immediate and screeching wrath.

But then again all Soundwave had to do was run away and let his cassettes provide backup for him. In the end he won and Starscream looked like a half melted popsicle.

The clapping sounds of the television snapped Soundwave out of that particular memory, the characters now on the screen were chatting rather amiably with each other over whatever mundane issue had been written in by the writers. It had little meaning or effect on the plot by now. And in front of it Soundwave started to lean in, his gaze occasionally turning back to what was being said by the main character—all while the still the cat turned Starscream continued to sleep like a brick in his lap.

“Do you even know what love is?” The woman on the television said with a wry smile. She was standing on a balcony, wearing an elegant looking blue dress. Her face was obscured by the camera angle, but there were strands of white hair and a blue glove as she turned to look at her partner.

The man sitting across from her looked at his cigarette and brought it to his lips, “Depends.” His smile widened a bit after that. “Are we in love, darling?”

“I like to think so.”

“I do too…” He paused and closed his eyes before shifting in his seat. “But I also think the moon is rather beautiful tonight, isn't it?” 

She laughed hearing his words, but walked over to him, taking the cigar from his hands. “You’re such a flirt.” 

Soundwave felt his fans click on as if he’d never desired something so similar yet different from what was being displayed in front of him on the television screen, watching as the woman on the screen took her lover’s face and kissed him. She’d kissed him as if the world around them had faded to black—it was just them.

“Cute.” Soundwave observed, tilting his head to look at Starscream as the movie ended and the credits started to roll. "Soundwave wants to try that too."

For a moment it seemed as if the seeker was beginning to stir awake at his request, preparing to look at him with those all knowing optics, curious and superior, back to his usual self. But then Starscream let out a soft mewl before curling into himself further into Soundwave’s lap, blue paws and everything else still apparent. The seeker was still in his cat form—another false alarm. The thought of being able to kiss Starscream like the couple in the movies did had faded and it looked like Soundwave would have to wait another day.

⊹₊⟡⋆

The third time Starscream had turned into a cat again might as well have been the most frightening. It was also almost impossible to stop anyone else from discovering the seeker’s plainly hidden secret. 

His trine was still unaware of his current issues or what he’d gone through in the first place. And the only ones who knew about Starscream’s ongoing and strange transformation into his cat form were a select few—Hook, Shockwave, and Soundwave (there was also Ravage, but who would she have told). But the reason that anyone else knew of anything was because they were already aware of it (back when Starscream first accidentally turned himself into a cat) and it made sense to keep them in the loop again about it (if not to find a cure then to have them suffer with Starscream as well.) Or be like Ravage who just happened to witness it by pure chance and had no qualms about how or if the seeker turned into a cat at random; keeping it to herself per Soundwave’s request. She'd have done it anyway, Starscream attempting to bribe her into silence was nice too. Maybe too nice, Soundwave complained she was getting a little fat and shiny from all the treats and extra nice polish.

But if it was either pure luck or not, there must have been a lucky star planted into the seeker’s spark because ever since he’d been turning back into a cat at random, Megatron was still in the dark about it. And for all Megatron knew, Starscream had only accidentally turned himself into a cat once and that was the end of it. There was no future threat to the Decepticons or fear that Starscream would accidentally transform into a winged feline mid battle or mid air while he was in jet mode (if that was even possible). 

No one had thought to warn him or snitch about Starscream’s most unfortunate and awkward situation. However, that had been because no one and especially Starscream had been able to discover or understand why these random transformations continued to happen or what triggered it exactly. Maybe it also helped the seeker threaten everyone to keep their mouths (if they had any) shut or be turned into cats too like him. 

Shockwave for whatever reason had no complaints when given such a threat by Starscream.

In fact, he seemed to egg on Starscream about it, insulting the seeker for what the ray had done to him recently when last tested and worked on—but for what exactly had caused his sudden grudge besides the accidental bunny transformation. Starscream and Soundwave weren’t so sure. They already knew that Shockwave after turning into a bunny had minimal recollection of it, and that was the last they'd heard of it from him. It was all rather confusing. What’s more, as far as they knew, Shockwave had no initial hard feelings about that day, and claimed that nothing happened on his end. All was fine and he hadn't turned back into a bunny either at random (allegedly) since then. 

Yet, suddenly it was as if his opinion about what had happened had changed without reason, almost overnight, but he refused to elaborate why, or take questions about it. Starscream had chalked it up to Shockwave being petty for no other reason than that he must have gone insane with loneliness. 

After all, the Decepticon scientist was all alone on Cybertron, who knows what went through his drives, or what he’d encountered while handling the Autobots in his bunny form. Prime didn’t know about it, or no one had bothered to call them on Teletran-one to yell at them about it and ask why Shockwave was on Earth as bunny, so that meant Megatron didn’t either. Soundwave didn’t like keeping secrets, but when he thought about it, Shockwave had no interest in explaining his side to Megatron too. It had never been brought up in any recent meetings, or battles minus perhaps Wheeljack acting strange lately as if he was looking for a certain mech before getting blasted or setting something up to explode like usual.

Still, they were in the middle of a fight with the Autobots at an energy plant when Starscream fell from the sky and on top of Soundwave and in his cat form, no less. Luckily no one else had been around to witness the sight. Starscream for his part had been alone while he flew around in his jet mode and Soundwave was trying to out hack Jazz to some degree of success until he heard a sudden meow for help and a mouth full of fur.

“Starscream: Calm down—”

“Meooooowoowow!? Meeeooowww!” (What the crankshaft is going on!? I was in the middle of shaking off some Autobots and the next thing I knew. Poof, I’m a cat again!)

No longer in the mood to deal with his lover’s cries of sorrow, Soundwave managed to pull him off and set him on top of the keyboard he’d been messing with, frantically trying to keep up with Jazz. If he didn’t win today, it might spell trouble later. And Starscream for the most part seemed to understand that. He would throw his head to the side occasionally, but leaned in whenever Soundwave found the time to pet him and tried to offer some meows of encouragement in response.

When Soundwave looked at the various screens in front of him, he’d managed to beat Jazz in their little game of hacking today, just barely. Relieved, there was an aggravated groan as he sat down, Starscream joining him by curling up against his tape deck. Soundwave shifted in his seat, leaning back, exhausted. They were safe for another day because of him.

“Meow?” (Soundwave won?)

“Yes.” 

“Mrrow” (Good, now lemme see your face too.) Starscream tapped a paw against Soundwave’s faceplate and stared at him, innocently. Large pools of red reflecting against the v-shaped visor in front of him. He liked the way he looked when staring at his own reflection, but those thoughts were immediately washed away when he saw Soundwave’s face. “Meow.” (How kind of you.)

Soundwave seemed used to his attitude by now and reached to kiss Starscream’s cheeks and forehead, rubbing his nose into and against the seeker’s fluffy fur before sighing a little. 

“This is nice,” he murmured. “Let Soundwave stay like this a little longer.”

“Meow?” (Tired already?) Gently, Starscream leapt off Soundwave’s tape deck to lay down on the desk in front of them, staring expectantly. When he thought about what he’d been asked to do, he reflected thoughtfully and considered that it would be fine to hide out here a little longer. Megatron was probably busy fighting Prime, and everyone else had their own rivals to fight off. “Mrrow.” (I’ll do you a great favor and let you borrow me as a pillow.)

“Okay.” Soundwave yawned. He moved his servos, placing them around Starscream’s body and positioned himself until he was resting his head gently on top of the seeker’s cat-like form. “Soundwave will nap now.”

Starscream gave a slow blink, working up the circuitry to say something before deciding against it, instead he just relaxed and allowed Soundwave to do as he pleased. The both of them falling into a comfortable rhythm. 

Whatever happened by the time they woke up, it could be dealt with later.  However, the vague feeling of being disturbed soon made Starscream feel a little paranoid and that feeling would have remained if it weren’t for Soundwave’s soft snores. 

And as if summoned or called upon to ruin the mood, the sound of music rang throughout the room without a moment’s pause, shaking the two of them awake without hesitation. 

“Look out and shout—!” Blaster sang out. “What’s going on here other than a sleeping Decepticon on the job!? Oh wait, more like a poor excuse of a sound system has been busted sleeping where he shouldn't!”

“Blaster: Still all talk, no shock.” Soundwave said. “No need to be so loud today.”

Surprise shook Starscream awake as he took cover somewhere in order to avoid being detected or caught by Blaster’s cassettes, it’d be a pain if Ramjet or Steeljaw caught his scent or tried to chase him. The seeker could run, but with his wings, and the weight they added, it would have been inevitable in slowing him down or worse, causing him to get caught even faster.

The vibrations from the two dueling sound systems was enough to cause the ceiling and walls around them to nearly collapse, but neither musical mech seems to care or notice at the moment. But soon after a few more exchanges of blows between both side’s cassettes, Ramhorn and Steeljaw seemed to have finally noticed amidst their battle with Ravage and Laserbeak, there was a different scent, it wasn’t Cybertronian or organic—it was both. But what was it?

In the Autobot-cassette's peripheral vision, they saw something blue start to pace back and forth on the ground, and then as if realizing it had been caught, it started to take off running with immense speed. Steeljaw ran after it, whatever it was, it smelled like a Decepticon and the scout knew he had to go find it and find it fast. Ramhorn followed after him with quickening speed.

A sharp questioning meow stopped them in their tracks, however, as Ravage appeared and started to hiss at them with immense volume before leaping at them with her claws. When they saw her, all interest in chasing after the mystery Decepticon scent had gone out the door by now. Laserbeak followed her example and attacked too (though as to why Ravage had been acting so protective over the alleged mystery Decepticon, the cassette had no clue really and was just following her in battle like usual.)

Either party would have to go after whatever that had been later and for a variety of different reasons. Maybe this petty rivalry of his had been taking too long, but Soundwave felt his optics start to dim out of frustration as he looked around and realized Starscream must have been forced to flee the building or risk being caught by Blaster’s cassettes. When he confirmed that the both sides were still occupied and it was more than likely that Starscream had been able to get to safety on his own, perhaps it was time to end their inevitable show down and leave it for another day.

“What are you hesitating for?” Blaster provoked, smiling. He raised his leg and started to blast a sharp screeching tune. “Don’t tell me you can’t handle your music, Soundwave!?”

Before Soundwave would react he was slammed into the wall, the ringing in his dials becoming sharper and sharper with each passing click. His thoughts seem to swing back and forth in all different directions, the majority of it was out of concern for his cassettes, but also if Starscream was okay, then what he’d have to do if captured by the Autobots. Even then the idea of wiping his processors felt painful, it set off an itch of yearning and a tearing pain through his wires. 

He reached out to steady himself and stand, but that proved to be rather useless when the ground began to shake due to Blaster and his speakers, the combination of instruments came towards him at an alarming rate. 

Blaster opened his mouth to speak. He was standing smugly over Soundwave now. “Looks like this is gonna be lights out jack. Was nice—”

A sharp bang sound rang out throughout the room suddenly as Blaster fell to the ground with a low groan. 

Soundwave froze, mouth going dry as he stared up at Starscream. He’d turned back and was now currently holding a metal pipe in between his servos, the seeker loomed over Soundwave and raised an optic brow at him. 

“What?” He said, looking around the room. Ravage and Laserbeak were currently celebrating and sitting on top of Ramhorn and Steeljaw. “Cat got your glossa?”

Soundwave shook his head and stood up. “Starscream is okay.”

Starscream narrowed his optics in response to Soundwave’s words, tossing the metal pipe he’d been holding in favor of sizing him up. Then he leaned in to meet the single exposed optic that peaked through Soundwave’s cracked red visor and raised his servo to look at it better. The damage caused by Blaster’s music resembled broken glass or porcelain pieces after suffering a violent crash. 

“I should’ve come sooner.”

“Starscream: Came at the right time.” 

He shot him a pleased look in response but then turned to look at Blaster before kicking him in the tape deck. “That’s for breaking his visor.” Starscream sneered, leg raised to kick the rocker again. “And this is for almost sicking your damn record-bots on me.”

“Don’t.” Soundwave said, softly. He grabbed Starscream’s arm and shook his head. “Not worth it.”

Starscream tilted his head at him, lost in thought for a moment, but put his leg down like asked. “Fine, he lives another day.” He said, annoyed, still feeling rather wronged or that Soundwave had been wronged in some way. “I found a marker earlier, if you want to draw on his faceplate for fun instead then. It’ll be funny, we can even write something like ‘90% off and for sale.’”

“Defective Look: Blaster edition?” Soundwave hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should be the bigger bot today, but then nodded, opening his servo for the marker in question, with an interesting idea in mind now. 

Forget it, rivalries don’t end in a day anyway and Starscream was right about it being funny.

⊹₊⟡⋆

Soundwave blinked, sensing a change next to him as he got pushed even further off of the berth. Starscream reached for him, however, servos wrapping around his waist. 

Suddenly, warm air brushed past Soundwave’s audials as he turned to meet his attacker’s touch, greeted by the two towering cat ears that sat atop Starscream’s helmet. They flickered occasionally as if greeting him, albeit a slightly dazed greeting, causing Soundwave to squint momentarily at them, but also at the tail that started to loop around his frame too.

With each breath, Starscream tickled his nose, nibbling on it, less cat and more sharkticon in nature. Soundwave stayed there, momentarily adjusting to what was happening and then cautiously tried to push Starscream off of him or so that at the very least, they could share more of the berth together, and not the edge of it. 

At this moment Starscream had fully woken up and caused the both of them to fall onto the floor. The sound of metal crashing onto the ground could be heard, the sharp ping of it echoing in the air until they managed to steady themselves.

Soundwave started to blink quickly, attempting to understand what had just happened while Starscream looked around confused and sleepy. His ears twitched in confusion, flicking with every glance around the room and the sound of his wings stretching echoed in the air of their shared quarters. 

There was a few nanoseconds of silence following that. Broken when Soundwave moved to touch Starscream’s cheek out of habit and said, “The moon is so beautiful tonight.”

Before his very optics, Starscream seemed to shake a little as he downloaded and registered just what Soundwave had said to him right now, blending in with it almost as he laughed. “You flirt.”

Chapter Text

“So, Soundwave has no idea where Rumble and Frenzy are?”

“Correct: Soundwave has not seen them all day.”

“I see,"  Starscream grumbled. He looked down at Soundwave. The frown on his face deepened as well, followed by his grip on the telepath's helm and the pressure he’d been applying on Soundwave’s button panel with his pede. “But if I find out you’re lying…”

“Query: Is this why Starscream is currently pink?” Soundwave asked. He was a little baffled still at the sight of the angered seeker when he first barged in screaming about where his cassettes were hiding and if not in Soundwave’s tape deck, then where were they hiding? And when he turned around, instead of the primary-colored-looking Starscream he’d grown used to seeing every day. The seeker had been dyed pink—a bright cherry blossom pink—and was more than pissed off.

“Why, yes,” Starscream hissed. “Yes, this is why I am currently pink, Soundwave. Do you think I want to be pink? If I wanted to change up my colors, I’d go all out with red at the very least, not this.’”

“Objective: Understood. Starscream is looking for revenge, but that does not explain why Starscream is mad at Soundwave right now. He had no involvement in what his cassettes had done.”

“Because you're just my type, and that bothers me—Wait, I didn't mean to say that. No, I did, but it was in my head. Wait—!”

“Soundwave is Starscream’s type?” He repeated.

“What, you think I step on everyone like this because I want to!? Oh my Primus. What is happening to me?!” Starscream fell backward after that and started to groan, attempting to cover his faceplate. He wailed, “First, I keep turning into a cat at random whenever I think about you, and now I’m pink. No, I’m pink and speaking my mind. I’m going to dismantle those brats and give them a taste of their own medicine!”

“Starscream is turning into a cat because of Soundwave? Starscream thinks of Soundwave that much…?”

“Is that really all you got from that!?’

“Soundwave would like to believe Starscream is not serious about threats to his cassette's well-being. He has seen Starscream keep them out of harm's way before when not needed.” 

Starscream ignored him. “This is so stupid. Why me? What did I do…to deserve this? Okay, no, I’ve done a lot. Don’t answer that for me, Soundwave, or I’ll punch you—or kiss… I don’t know what I’m saying anymore.”

He sat up after finishing his ramble and slammed into Soundwave’s tape deck. Both of them were caught off guard by the other’s unexpected action.

“Soundwave apologizes.” 

“You idiot. You’re so glad I think you’re pretty enough to—” Starscream paused and started to rub his nose. “Never mind. This is so ridiculous. A forced paint job shouldn’t do this!?”

“Starscream was hit with paint?” 

“I was in the wash racks when Rumble and Frenzy thought it’d be funny to dump paint on me. By the time I managed to recover my optical vision, they were gone and the paint wouldn’t wash off.”

“Perhaps Starscream should go and see Hook for help? Maybe he can help.”

⊹₊⟡⋆

“When did we get a new seeker…” Hook began, not really knowing what to make of the situation in front of him. 

“You stupid buffoon,” Starscream supplied with a shrill shriek. “There is no way you’re being serious right now. I refuse to believe it—Soundwave read his thoughts!”

“Hook is serious,” Soundwave said. “He is not lying.”

Starscream’s expression fell, some of his annoyance from earlier bubbling up again. “Great. So it’s not just him.”

Soundwave stared, his helm starting to ache for a moment, watching Starscream stamp his pede into the ground and throw a tantrum. They’d spend the better half of their day trying to walk around the base to find Hook, who had been in the middle of doing something with the Constructicons—too interested in some new building project—or so they’d been told by Astrotrain. But when they walked around, something strange began to happen, and suddenly no one could recognize Starscream as Starscream.

They all assumed it was a new seeker for some reason. 

No, first they had assumed Soundwave was trying to make Starscream jealous by bringing in a new seeker, a pink one too, but then they started to look at him with confusion because wouldn’t he get in big trouble for that? 

“How gaudy,” Thundercracker had commented, caught somewhere between a simple insult and a protective need to ensure whoever this was didn’t appear in front of his trine leader. “Seriously, who do you think you are?”

“Starscream.”

“Lies! Starscream would never willingly wear that shade of pink. He wouldn’t be caught dead looking like this.” Thundercracker turned to look at Soundwave, who for the first time looked to be near the point of tears. Both seekers were startled. The confusion radiating from their EM fields before transforming into something else, when they heard Soundwave laugh to the point of tears.

Starscream, however, felt his fans click on. And it was because Soundwave had nearly taken both of them out. He'd reached for the seeker's pink waist, and tried to explain what had happened to him. Like why he was pink right now, and that Soundwave was trying to help him get back to normal, find Hook.

This lasted until Thundercracker seemed to understand Starscream's current situation and what Soundwave said. The blue seeker's optics grew wide like saucers, and he nearly doubled over in laughter too, joining Soundwave.

Starscream soon himself sandwiched in between one of his trine members and his still-in-the-works conjunx, evidently sharing an intense stare down filled with laughter or another rapid-fire explanation of something that could only have come out of a novel. He had started yelling out insults after that, torn as to who should be blasted first. He honed in on Thundercracker first, who, he realized, though earlier was attempting to defend him, had still insulted his new and forced paint job. He put his servo into a fist and punched him. This wasn’t the appropriate time for any seeker or mech to start laughing. He’d deal with Soundwave later and in private. So what if it was a lot of pink, really rather well-coated pink? That didn’t mean Starscream wasn’t allowed to walk around with it; if anything, he thought that he looked rather dashing in it, or so he hoped that was the case. Or that whenever they managed to find Hook, something could be done about his current situation.

“Yeah, I can’t do anything about this,” Hook said, eventually. His words shattering Stascream’s reverie and recollection of today’s earlier events. “Looks like you got hit with some kind of truth serum, Starscream. Just your fragging luck.”

“A what—!”

“Truth. Serum. You know, the kind where you have to only tell the truth. You are only allowed to speak the truth,” Hook reiterated slowly. “And only the truth, no lying.”

“You useless hack of a—”

Soundwave coughed. “Query: Will this be a permanent issue or?”

“Who knows?” Hook replied lazily. He put down his tools and threw a look back at Soundwave, who was currently attempting to stop Starscream from tackling their base’s only medic, or at least potential medic. “Could wear off by the end of today, or not, but uh. Starscream, are you still turning into a cat? Soundwave came in last week about you.”

“No, not since then, Hook.”

“Well, if anything changes, make sure you come by to tell me, or I’m sure Soundwave will.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’ll come by to tell you how I—”

“We’ll be leaving now,” Soundwave finished for him. “Thanks, Hook.” He reached for Starscream’s wrist and took him by it. Soundwave dragged the confused seeker with him until they’d managed to make it all the way back into their personal quarters. Hopefully this meant they were less likely to be disrupted for the day.

Starscream frowned. “You should have let me finish what I wanted to say.”

Soundwave shook his head. “Inappropriate conduct is not permitted.”

“You didn’t say that last night.” 

“Last night and now are two different things.”

“Well, you weren't complaining when I let you—”

“Soundwave is complaining now.” 

“Prude.” Starscream huffed. “Remind me why I think you’re hot again?”

“Soundwave does not know.” Suddenly something came to mind, and he said, “Query: Why does Starscream think Soundwave is hot?” 

Starscream froze and opened his mouth; at first, he tried to close it and cover it with his servos, but then that proved to be fruitless by the time he blurted out, “Because you have really pretty optics and you’re not that bad of a kisser when you want to put in the effort. What the—no, that is not why I think you’re hot, because I don’t think about you at all. No, that's another lie—truth?”

“Conclusion: Starscream has to always at least try to tell the truth when asked?”

Starscream ignored him and forced his dials to go offline. He needed to think right now. It was embarrassing enough that he’d been caught in the middle of the cassettes prank war with Skywarp, and now he was stuck dealing with the consequences of that.

For whatever reason, Rumble and Frenzy had thought it’d be funny to mess with everyone, and Skywarp of all mechs had ended up being their favorite target. Little things like swapping out his polish for remover or changing the type of energon he liked to eat to dyed motor oil, playing random noises when he walked or prepared to take flight. Naturally, that had resulted in Skywarp's retaliation on his own time and with his own antics. Like locking Soundwave’s cassettes in a closet or two before it had escalated to something more extreme like super glue and rat traps.

Begrudgingly, Starscream turned his attention back to Soundwave, who sat at the edge of their berth now, catching how he had been staring at him; the look of hidden concern behind his visor nearly causing his drives to crash. When he turned on his dials, Soundwave took his servo.

“Are you okay?” Soundwave asked. “Starscream doesn't have to talk until this is all over.”

Starscream’s expression must have said enough. Soundwave held his servo tighter and pulled him closer to the edge of the berth, pedes scraping against the floor. Carefully and slow enough so that if Starscream wanted to, he could pull away. Soundwave reached out for Starscream’s waist and held him.

“It’ll be okay,” Soundwave said, his voice hopeful. “Apart from Starscream’s new paint job and need to tell the truth, Hook says vitals are in good shape.” He opened his tape deck and called for Ravage. She turned her head to Soundwave, then to Starscream, and started to meow, clearly lost as to why a certain seeker had turned pink.

Ravage pawed Starscream. Something about it had caused the seeker’s face to soften as his optics met hers. For a moment, he felt sane. Finally, someone besides Soundwave still had the neural processors to recognize him.

“Good girl,” he said.

And she nuzzled his canopy at the sound of his praise being said in his voice. In her optics, Starscream was also her baby, not even bothering to question why Soundwave had brought the seeker to her a while ago as a kitten, or could only have assumed that was him as one. She was Ravage. He was Starscream. Even if his paint changed or his form changed, his spark couldn’t change. Not in front of her. 

“Ravage is the best,” Soundwave added, pulling Starscream a little closer so he was situated comfortably in his lap, Ravage in servo. Not even bothering to suppress his chuckling. "Starscream looks good in pink. He’d make a cute pink cat too.”

“Shut up, Soundwave,” Starscream said. Somehow though there was little anger in his words, he seemed more embarrassed than upset. Maybe flattered. “Don’t forget why we’re even in this mess. Rumble and Frenzy did this!”

Ravage continued to be held, paws in the air and back supported by Starscream’s arms, half expecting one of them to finally explain what was going on. But when neither did, she huffed and stared at Soundwave, who was supposed to be the responsible one, the one who had all of the knowledge.

But they continued to bicker, crammed into each other’s personal space. Starscream is sitting in Soundwave’s lap, and Soundwave is sitting on their berth. It was honestly a little bit nauseating with how much affection they shoved in her muzzle. The only bit of space she could find in the crowded and closed-off space that formed between the two mechs was when Starscream tried to move to the side, and she took her chance to escape.

“Give me grand kittens soon,” she meowed happily before leaving, “Do your best!"

Starscream nearly choked, nearly falling off, and Soundwave held onto him a little tighter so he wouldn’t.

Neither had it in them to be annoyed at Ravage or her words, but that didn’t mean they were willing to discuss what she’d said either, so her demand to see “grand kittens” as she had said. If anything, Starscream was more concerned with the sudden protectiveness that shot from Soundwave’s servos when he grabbed a hold of him and the click of his fans.

Starscream broke the silence and said, “We aren’t even married yet, and she’s already asking for that, of all things.”

“We still have to do that.” Soundwave didn’t elaborate any further and pressed his masked faceplate into Starscream’s canopy next, mimicking how Ravage had done it earlier by purring into it. 

Starscream stayed still, watching him as if he didn't know how to react or what to say right now. Meanwhile Soundwave had started to nervously rub circles into Starscream’s metal waist and wings with his servos. Something was eating at him.

Starscream broke the tension first. “I know,” he said. “And I’ve been trying to ask you to marry me for the last three cycles, but it never works out… Obviously I was going to surprise you again eventually, but with this stupid truth thing. Whatever. Surprised, right?”

Soundwave looked up at him, feeling his optics go wide. Starscream had been trying to propose to him? He had a feeling that might have been the case, but it seemed far too soon to confirm anything, let alone ask.

“Starscream…was?”

“Yeah, and you keep foiling my plans, idiot.”

“When did that happen?” Soundwave asked, propelled by curiosity.

“Remember when you thought I went missing? We had an argument before that.”

Soundwave nodded, servos still wrapped around Starscream’s waist, indicating for him to continue.

“Okay, well, I wanted to ask you something, but you were moody. And then I was going to propose during movie night, but you got too invested in the movie and started ignoring me. Me of all mechs! And I got mad.”

“Oh,” was all Soundwave had to say in response. He couldn’t help but stare at Starscream’s upset face, digits itching to reach out and pinch the seeker’s now pink and red-colored cheeks and tease him a little. Explore what was in front of him. But he resisted. Instead he brought his attention to Starscream’s flapping wings and thought of how when his lover was a cat, he would whip both his tail and wings when angered. “Starscream turned into a cat before because he was upset at Soundwave for ruining his plans for marriage? Cute.”

“Shut up,” Starscream grumbled, wrapping his servos around Soundwave’s neck and shoulders. “I’m still your superior in rank. Watch how you speak to me.”

“Query: Starscream knows the reason for his sudden cat transformations then?” he asked. “High-range emotions and Soundwave were the missing factors?”

Silence enveloped the room once more, until Starscream let out a noise. “Maybe, maybe not. I still need to test it. Should we go to my lab?”

⊹₊⟡⋆

“Maybe if we just tried using another method,” Starscream said, standing in front of Soundwave. 

The elevator was as boring as it was unnerving. Starscream didn’t know how he was supposed to induce his own transformation in a way that didn’t involve him, at the very least, being upset or feeling rather volatile.

But Soundwave had his theories, afraid like before Starscream would sooner or later turn back into a cat again in the heat of battle as he walked through the lab with the seeker behind him. He pointed out the last three times Starscream had turned himself into a cat, how many close calls it had been, and that if anything there should’ve been some clues from their battle with Blaster since Starscream had managed to turn back in time and save him. There must have been a reason or some clues in that.

It almost sounded like a joke, the corner of Starscream’s optics crinkling with laughter as he remembered how he’d knocked out Blaster and doodled on him with Soundwave after. He’d do it again if possible, but without the fear of almost being caught by Blaster’s record cons in his cat form.

Soundwave took his servo, and Starscream smiled at him. “I guess I have an idea or two on how to turn myself into a cat and how to turn back. This way,” he said, walking around the lab in search of something. He gestured to a door on the left. “This is where I hide stuff from Megatron… Don’t tell him, okay?”

“Won’t. So long as it is not dangerous.” 

“I wouldn’t say ‘dangerous,’ more like experiential.” Starscream pointed to another door on the right, and he moved to open it, servo on a button. “That’s where I keep snacks sometimes. Or whatever junk I don’t want to look at for the time being.” A servo shot out to block his path and pull him away from it as the door opened.

In the blink of an eye, they heard what sounded like Rumble and Frenzy tumbling out of the alleged snack and junk room—dyed pink.

“Dammit, we thought you guys were Skywarp and Thundercracker!” Rumble said, finding himself pressed to the ground while Frenzy lay on top of him, they looked like a set of fallen dominoes in front of Starscream and Soundwave right now.

“Yeah, what the heck, guys,” Frenzy added. He was holding a now empty bucket of paint in servos—bright hot pink paint—evidently now it had gone somewhere, but where? There was no paint on the floor, or on them; they were already an entirely different shade of pink.

Filled with sudden dread, Starscream’s face contorted for a second, as if seeing the now pink cassettes caused him immediate and terminal pain. “You—You two are the reason I’ve been dealing with so much nonsense all day. You are in so much trouble! No, first, look at what you just did!” 

"Did what?!” Frenzy shouted, curiosity piqued, but immediately regretted it when he realized that the mech that towered over him and Rumble was Starscream, but pink, and not a new or random low-ranked seeker. 

Starscream, who was painted the color pink from helm to pedes, and staring at him like a disappointed sire. He had one servo on his hip and another servo pointed down at Rumble and Frenzy while Soundwave stood behind him, now also covered in pink paint, and stared at them in silence. 

“Sorry, boss…” Rumble said. His voice sounded meek all of a sudden, an edge of panic and exasperation bleeding through his vocalizer. “...Didn’t mean to give you a new paint job too.”

Starscream spun, absolutely intrigued in seeing Soundwave’s new pink form, who was in the middle of admiring his servos and the rest of his limbs—he looked like bubblegum right now—but instead of his entire frame being pink, there were still some parts left uncolored and in their original state. The opposite of his cassettes and Starscream, who had become the color pink.

Pink had become them. Really became all of them, the way it framed their original colors, pink everything.

“Matching,” Soundwave concluded, happily. “Matching together now with cassettes and Starscream.”

“So cool!” Frenzy said, excited. He got up from the floor and started asking Soundwave a whole bunch of questions, like why his tape deck was still blue and if he got any special powers from the pink paint. Because apparently, it was advertised to do that, much to Starscream’s background squawking after hearing that.

“Yay," Rumble said softly. He was hiding behind Soundwave’s leg and staring at his pedes. 

Starscream began to wonder whether or not the pink paint had an effect on Rumble and Frenzy’s personalities right now. Or at least did something to alter their manner of speaking, given how one brother kept speaking with such high volume without pause, and the other was so meek and soft in his demeanor right now.

Frightening. If this is what happened when they were dyed pink, then what about Soundwave? Worried, Stascream rushed over to check on Soundwave but was surprised to see how Soundwave, instead of acting strange or feeling uncomfortable, was rather relaxed, pleased even, despite what had happened just now. 

“Wait, aren't Laserbeak and Buzzsaw inside your tape deck?” Starscream asked. If he could recall, it was only Ravage, Rumble, and Frenzy who were out, and any of the flying cassettes had been left inside Soundwave’s tape deck until called upon.

With this, Soundwave called for them and pressed a button to eject them out of his tape deck. It was then the called-out cassettes came out, and they stared at them. They all looked at them confused, but much to everyone else's relief, they weren’t pink at the very least; they looked normal and how they should have been. Good, or it would have been good if, with the ejection of Soundwave’s remaining cassettes, out came a cloud of glitter.

Glitter that hit Starscream’s face. Soundwave expected a snarl or something that would have resulted in the seeker being upset. He had accidentally hit him with glitter, and it had gotten all over his frame—a total glitter bomb.

Instead, Starscream scratched his helmet and said, “Glad you’re okay too, Soundwave.” He actually sounded relieved after saying that and moved to hug him. “Sorry, I got a little worried.”

Soundwave kissed his cheek, as close to kissing Starscream’s cheek as he could with his mouthplate on right now by moving his head slightly to the side. He watched as Starscream’s lips became a little down turned in response, staring at him with unmasked interest.

“Alright everyone out,” Starscream soon said, motioning for the cassettes to go. He cleared his throat. “Time to leave the adults to what they were supposed to be doing before this all happened.”

They watched as Rumble and Frenzy looked at them funny to the point it was less of a look and more of an accusation of some sort before Laserbeak and Buzzsaw landed on their shoulders and started to caw, motioning that they wanted to know what happened. And why the twins had turned pink all of a sudden. Taking this as an opportunity, Frenzy started to rub his servos together and asked if any of the flight cassettes would be interested in helping them out with something in return for nut bolts as they left through the door and into the elevator.

“Doing something earlier?” Soundwave’s question sounded closer to a humorous joke.

“If you count watching me turn into a cat on purpose. Then yes, yes we were.” 

“Starscream will do that now?”

“I can try," he challenged. 

Soundwave tilted his head, something Starscream by now had learned meant that there was a smirk hiding beneath his mouthplate. It felt rewarding to be able to read his lover’s frame language and cues now, "Operation: Cat shall be engaged now."

“Now?”

“Now.”

Chapter Text

“Are you sure this will work?” Starscream said.

“I bet my scripts on it,” Thundercracker said.

“Your scripts are terrible, though.”

“...Do you want my help or not, Starscream?”

There, standing in front of the mirror, was Thundercracker, his digits looped around a bright red ribbon. He was in the middle of re-tying it around Starscream’s neck. Initially, he’d been surprised when his trine leader called him and Skywarp for a meeting so late into the night; it was something of grave importance, Starscream had claimed. At first they thought maybe it was another scheme, or maybe something had happened again with Soundwave, but to their surprise Starscream looked fine, more than fine. He looked proud about something. And said he wanted to show them something.

When they’d found out that Starscream could turn into a cat at will, they were shocked and then concerned if anyone else knew until they realized that it’d have been impossible for Soundwave to have not known about this. No, it made more sense to assume this is why the two of them had grown so close lately—they’d become inseparable—and were often seen together, glued to the hip. Like most, Skywarp and Thundercracker had assumed Soundwave was trying to keep an optic on Starscream because he had a tendency to cause trouble or start something if left unattended for too long or left to brew up a new scheme. 

Skywarp was the first to say something, slinging out sorts of insults to Starscream’s furry face, moving to pick him up, and scolding him for being dumb. Thundercracker just shook his head, rubbing his faceplate—he didn’t think that something would have topped the incident last month where Starscream turned pink, or how Rumble and Frenzy had managed to dye every Decepticon on the base pink; they’d even managed to hit the Autobots too—watching a pink Megatron and Optimus duke it out had been on no one’s bucket list.

And any attempt to apologize for not telling them until now was ignored by the two opposing seekers, at least until they’d managed to have their fill of petting and messing with Starscream’s current and most apparent cat form. They scratched his chin, pet his ears, and said he was cute like this—still as wild and fiery—a total disaster magnet. For someone they’d always felt and understood to be motivated solely by pride and vanity, it was strange for someone like that to ask how they had proposed to each other earlier; however, the answer had only come out after they’d eaten their fill of bullying their trine leader to near death (via embarrassment).

“I wrote him a poem,” Thundercracker said. “But he didn’t get it.”

“No, I was confused if I was being insulted or not,” Skywarp argued. He looked at Thundercracker. “Then you said ‘no’ and got upset.”

“Well, it was the same as saying no to me back then.”

“Okay, well, you didn’t appreciate my gift at first.” 

“A broken music box is not as romantic as you think, Skywarp.”

Starscream stared at them, tall fluffy black ears starting to bend downward out of annoyance, and his tail swished like the pendant of a clock. He had a genuine curiosity about how his two trine members had gotten together. It wasn’t that Starscream didn't know about their closeness on Cybertron before the war or why they had gotten together. Even in the flight academy, Skywarp and Thundercracker had always had a certain degree of closeness that surrounded them. There were always little things. Like, how do you like your energon in the morning? Here is something I thought you’d like, or this is a funny picture; it looks like you. Have you felt anything lately? 

There were times Starscream could only watch them from afar or turn back to look at them, out of confusion—underneath a tinge of the unknown, stuck listening to what could have been interpreted as happiness, and wishing he had someone who loved him like that too. Unable to admit to the wounds in his spark, licking them away, until Soundwave. A closing of the simple lid that built his self-defense, the exposure of a love worth accepting and admiring. There is something in his spark that demands to be released and fulfilled despite how empty it is supposed to be. A magnitude of vulnerability only those close to him, like his trine, have been allowed to even glimpse. He can’t describe it as anything else, but he wants to hold onto it. 

Whether it be attention or a promise. 

After listening to Skywarp and Thundercracker bicker for what felt like hours, Starscream took off on his own adventure; he’d heard enough of their conversation, blue paws strolling out through one of the many giant entrances that existed around the base and the room they’d been standing in. He looked around for the longest time, dodging and avoiding anyone that could’ve spotted him so late into the night. 

Until he ended up standing in front of his own quarters, entered it, and jumped onto his berth. He landed on a quilt. A moving one that opened for him like a treasure box, revealing a smooth blue metal shoulder. Starscream looked at the sleeping Soundwave. He then jumped on Soundwave’s charging form and started to think about his plans for tonight before transforming back into his normal self, whatever could be considered normal by now to him and Soundwave. The seeker had started to enjoy the perks that had come with his magical transformations into a cat and back; it was handy when avoiding Megatron’s wrath or detection from outsiders.

Just now he’d been planning on proposing again to Soundwave. Like he’d been promising and failing to. After remembering how bad his recent attempts to court his lover had gone wrong and why. He started laughing but rearranged the red bow that had been tied around his neck earlier by Thundercracker.

“Starscream left?” Soundwave yawned and sleepily reached forward to rub the top of Starscream’s head. Greeted by a familiar pair of fluffy black ears and narrowed red optics. However, when his optics loaded in the red bow, he suddenly stopped all movements and asked out of confusion. “New look?”

“No?” Starscream said. He almost bit his glossa when responding. The word “miao” almost slipped out again. Another unfortunate side effect of his transformation. Soundwave thought it was rather cute, though, but Starscream thought it broke the illusion of his handsomeness. Still, he smiled when Soundwave continued to pet his ears and leaned forward to admire the bow on his neck. “Can’t you guess?”

Soundwave shook his head, thinking Starscream was up to his old tricks again or that this was perhaps another joke being played on him.

Starscream looked at him as if Soundwave were stupid, then smiled while climbing on top of him. The seeker teased, “Have we done it too much? It sounds like you’ve fried your logic processors, Soundwave. Or, have your acting skills finally started to improve?” 

“You are the one who has done too much and fried his logic processors!” Soundwave raised his fist with a sour expression—hidden by his visor and mouthplate—and attempted to punch Starscream, but of course he missed. And he hit the air instead. His intended (lover) victim even laughed at him.

“Miao, were you waiting for me?” Starscream said suddenly. He rolled across the berth and lay on his back, stretching his wings out. “Doesn’t matter, I want to show you something special.”

“Something special? Like what?”

“You’ll see.”

The two mechs looked at each other like that for a while. Until suddenly Starscream reached for Soundwave’s wrists and pulled him out of the berth. The quilt fell off of his shoulders and onto the ground as he was led away and out of their shared quarters by Starscream. 

“Come on. I hate waiting,” Starscream said. “I refuse to let you foil this again by accident. No, again.”

Again? Soundwave looked at the seeker in front of him as if he was still confused and as if the sleep had yet to leave his circuits and realize what that meant. Attention still focused on the tall cat ears that stood so high up on Starscream’s helmet, they might as well have reached the ceiling, or the tail that wrapped around his wrist. Like its owner, it was just as possessive. 

Soundwave thought about how Starscream had admitted to him a while ago, under the effects of a truth serum or the effects of turning pink for the day, that he'd been attempting, multiple times even, to propose to him, and that it wasn't too crazy to imagine them like that. Obviously Soundwave had no clue. But after realizing it, he had started to fear change. He was scared of what came next. Again and again, Soundwave begins to feel a creeping sense of doubt in his spark if he’s done enough or read the room correctly. Again and again, Starscream has attempted to propose to him, but he, in all his mistakes, had dismissed or ignored it by accident. There are no words to describe Soundwave’s embarrassment, servos still held by Starscream, even in this moment.

In an effort to make the seeker slow down, Soundwave increases his walking pace as they exit the base together. Their pedes stepped out to touch no longer just concrete, but instead grass. He tries his best to catch Starscream’s attention, to look into his optics, to possibly read his thoughts and see what he had planned for them. 

When Starscream stops, he looks at him as if he’s confused and out of breath about something. He says if they stop now, then they’ll miss something important, and he’s done a lot of calculations about whatever they’re going to miss. And when Soundwave doesn’t respond, Starscream stands there staring at him. He tilts his head to the side and starts to pout. 

As the wind started to pick up around them, they were still looking at each other under the night sky in an almost deafening silence. Slowly, Soundwave leaned forward, closing the gap between him and Starscream—foreheads touching, servos still held as if they were almost glued together. 

“Starscream wants to propose?” he said, softly. “Propose right this time?”

“Is that a yes?” Starscream said. He pressed his lips to Soundwave’s mouthplate and laughed, happily. 

There was hardly any space left between them when Soundwave nodded, removing his visor and mouthguard. A smile, soft and full of love, was displayed for the both of them to witness. Starscream kissed him there again. This time on the lips, his servos reaching for something to hold, a waist. 

“Hurry up now, there’s something I want to show you.”

“Okay.”

Then, as they continue to walk upward, the night sky becomes much clearer; the clouds have already vanished, revealing what could only have been described by Soundwave as a countless amount of stars—a glimpse of something rare but also serene—and it pulled him out of whatever smug expression had been plastered on Starscream’s faceplate. 

Starscream chuckled when he saw his companions in clear and utter awe over the stars tonight. “Make a wish,” he said.

“Wish?” There’s genuine confusion in Soundwave’s voice. This was the last thing he’d expected to hear right now, but when he feels Starscream reach to hold his waist and kiss his forehead and then his nose, it’s bitten at it and then licked. The seeker blinks down at Soundwave, who stood there confused but blushing.

“There’s a shooting star tonight. Hurry up and make a wish for me,“ Starscream said haughtily. He leans down, catching Soundwave’s lips for a short moment, a quick kiss. Soundwave feels helplessly addicted after. And all of his brain power is drawn to stop himself from tossing the seeker to the ground to return the favor.

“Soundwave wishes to be proposed to,” he manages to say, feeling breathless, static ringing through his circuits, the buzzing of his dials. It’s safe to assume he’s ecstatic, torn between teasing the seeker verbally or teasing him physically. 

“So impatient,” Starscream scoffs, smiling despite how offended he sounded or tried to feign. “But since you asked, will you marry me? Become my conjunx, Soundwave?”

Soundwave smiled and leaned upward, throwing his arms around Starscream, teeth catching the ribbon on the seeker’s neck, tugging on it until it fell to the ground, and before the seeker could utter another word. A kiss is immediately placed on his lips. Time feels foreign when they stand like that, eagerly accepting whatever scrap of rough and paint-scratching piece of affection could’ve been offered or tasted between the two of them. And the stars shine above them as if blessing their little union.

Chapter Text

“Damnit, Soundwave, stop protecting him,” Megatron yelled out. He was in the middle of arching his back in anger, tail whipping back and forth, fusion cannon ready as well, when he saw Soundwave continue to sit there, refusing to move or shift from where he was already sitting—guilty already of hiding something.

The blue-white mane or ruff around his neck had already been fluffed out, and the red visor that wrapped around his cat-like features disguised his gaze like usual—making it hard for Megatron to tell if his communications officer had even been listening to him or not; it would have been hard to. Hard when Megatron remembered who the “him” in question had even been.

Starscream was hiding underneath Soundwave due to their clear and naturally apparent size difference; the seeker had buried himself underneath the other—was almost swallowed whole by it—and used it as a means to avoid Megatron’s outburst for the day, for whatever he had or had not done apparently. By the time Starscream was blamed, he had managed to find his way to sneak under Soundwave, his conjunx, borrowing the other’s plush and warm blue underbelly of fur, using it to cover his own aft or to cover him entirely. 

Regrettably, to anyone else who may have been a witness to such a strange scene, he looked a little funny. At least, with how his wings and blaster clearly did not fit underneath Soundwave, the cat turned seeker still tried, somehow managing with a little help from his conjunx. It looked like how a baby bird hides underneath its mother. 

Soundwave, after checking to make sure Starscream was okay and safe, eventually shook his head when looking at Megatron. “Starscream is not at fault for everyone and himself turning into cats today,” he said, meowing.

“See!” Starscream mewled. “It was the Autobots, I swear, I swear! Mirage came out of nowhere and blasted me and Soundwave!!”

“Fine, I’ll listen to your little tall tale for now, Starscream. Someone go and get me Shockwave!” Megatron hissed out. He threw his gaze over to Thundercracker and Skywarp, the two seekers, while now cats were still rather identifiable despite the similarities to Starscream’s cat form. “And that’s an order. Go—!”

Starscream, however, remained where he was sitting and peered up at Soundwave, who stared back at him through his red visor; neither was sure what exactly to do. They were supposed to be spending their honeymoon like they had planned in peace, but neither could have expected this of all things to have happened. The cat ray gun should have been destroyed, and Soundwave had remembered watching it disintegrate in the seeker’s hands like he promised after figuring out how to stop his randomized transformations, so how did the Autobots get their hands on it? 

Or something so similar?

So strange.

⊹₊⟡⋆

Shockwave was in the middle of reading something when he heard something fall and went to go check it out; the sound was loud, but so was the crash that’d caused it in the first place—piquing his sudden and immediate interest. There were only a few possible options that he could think of right now; it was either more femme Autobots trying to steal energon from his base, Autobots from Earth, or something else entirely.

Still, Shockwave felt that no matter what it was, he would be able to take care of it on his own or have one of his little minions chase and capture the invader, but what he didn’t expect was to hear a sharp and sudden meow or for a fluffy white ball of fur to leap out.

“An organic lifeform?” He said, confused as to how something like this could’ve gone undetected on Cybertron for so long until he recognized the metal-like but organic-looking appearance of the cat by the finials on the side of its head, but also the white, green, and red that made up its coat. “Wheeljack?”

Wheeljack stared at Shockwave, dusty white paws in the air as he was held up to the purple scientist's single yellow-shaped optic—scanned and examined by him. He then felt Shockwave start to palpate his face, a servo brought forward to touch his cheeks, ears, and then belly, as if trying to logically calculate how much of a threat the now-turned Autobot scientist could be to him.

“How illogical.”

“Meow.” (I don't know how it happened either, buddy.)

“I should report this to Lord Megatron,” Shockwave said. “But first, I need to put you somewhere for safekeeping.”

His leader, in theory, could find a decent use out of this given how much Optimus cared for his soldiers and their well-being. They were at war after all, despite what little affection Shockwave felt in his spark for Wheeljack after their strange but eventful time together when he was turned into a bunny and captured or babysat by him.

Wheeljack began to meow almost frantically and flail around, anything that could’ve been done to slip out of Shockwave’s purple servo when he saw just where the purple scientists had been planning on putting him—a cage, but it proved to be rather useless, at least he hoped when Shockwave noticed his discomfort and stared at him.

“You don’t want to be caged?”

“Meow?” (Does anyone?)

Shockwave didn’t move after that. He kept his gaze on the cage in front of him; it’d have been easy; he could’ve tossed the now cat-turned Wheeljack into it and be done with the mech for good, called Megatron, and gone back to what he’d been reading. But then he remembered the still wavering and nagging reminder that was hidden deep in his drawer—an orange ribbon—and when that thought was combined with the look on Wheeljack’s face, Shockwave started to wonder if something was wrong with his logic processors today. He’d have to investigate that, however, on his own time.

“If I let you stay with me, will you be good?” Shockwave asked, arm and servo extended outward with the still dangling Wheeljack held by the scruff of his neck. “Will you not cause trouble?”

Wheeljack blinked at him. “Mrrow.” (I’ll try, big guy.)

“I need to make a cat translator.”

“Meow?” (Oh, so you don’t know what I’m saying?)

“I don’t, no.” 

And much to Shockwave’s dismay, it turned out that he would’ve needed a cat translator anyway. A cat like Megatron was in front of him or being displayed on the screen for him, his leader meowing angrily while Starscream and Soundwave sat behind him, but they were far too busy grooming each other or being groomed by the other to add anything to the conversation. Not that it’d have helped because all Shockwave had been able to make out was what could only be described as a flamboyant howl, a howl that’d only gotten worse when Optimus Prime was added to the call.

Everything felt like a strange fever dream to Shockwave, who seemed to be the only mech around to witness how both factions on Earth had managed to transform themselves into cats, but how, no one seems to have an answer. Or if they did, then it was lost in translation when Optimus started to puff his chest and Megatron pushed his face into the camera to screech at the other cat-mech louder.

In the background, Shockwave could make out Blaster and Jazz, the two music-loving mechs, now turned cats, sitting side by side with their tails intertwined. And they must have been teasing each other clearly about something, at least; Jazz was because he was soon pinned to the ground by Blaster until he started to cry or meow for mercy.

Wheeljack had been sitting atop Shockwave's chest, the flat, smooth surface of it. He liked how the cool metal felt against his fur; it's been a fight to get up there initially. Shockwave refused to let him have his way and threatened to toss him in the cage again before letting him get his way, which was to curl up and rest on the scientist's large and apparent chassis—the best seat in Wheeljack’s opinion.

Naturally, Optimus was concerned for Wheeljack, though the concern had come after chewing the other out for disappearing and ending up on Cybertron with Shockwave of all bots. The situation was still rather unclear, though. Mirage had hatched a random plan, but the plan had backfired when the gun exploded, hitting them all and transforming them all into cats. But how to transform back, no one had a clue.

Unfortunately, because Shockwave was the only one around with servos, it looked like he’d have to come up with something, or he would if not for the ball of fur in his optic right now. Wheeljack was insistent on rubbing against him as if that was supposed to mean something, marking his claim over the purple scientist; it wasn’t very logical to Shockwave—whatever Wheeljack was trying to do or was compelled to do via his instincts, maybe the organic parts had overridden his Cybertronian circuitry.

But right now Wheeljack continued to rub his cheeks against the side of Shockwave’s face, his plan already in motion. He had started to miss the other mech after they spent time together watching movies; maybe compelled by that, Wheeljack found himself on Cybertron, missing what little interaction they already had before on Earth. 

“No,” Shockwave said, refusing to acknowledge whatever ploy Wheeljack had been aiming for. His voice was bland and even. Not even a waiver of emotion. “I have to finish figuring this out for Megatron.”

Wheeljack purred a little louder, the rumble from his chest cavity, akin to how his engines and fans would’ve sounded if he were back to normal, and his gaze never leaving Shockwave, attempting to borrow his feline form and achieve the maximum amount of cuteness right now. 

He even rolled onto his back, exposing his soft and plush belly to Shockwave, who started to palpate it with his gun servo. Just a little longer.

“Fine, but don’t move unless instructed.” 

Wheeljack let out another meow, a simple thanks, but also a meow of pride for being allowed to nap and rest on Shockwave’s expansive and voluminous purple frame. More purring followed when he felt a servo reach to scratch his chin and ears.

“Illogical, inferior, but Wheeljack.”