Chapter Text
For Primus' sake, Lord Megatron was scary, Starscream thought, stalking from the command room with what little dignity remained to his name. And precious little it was- the Decepticon leader seemed intent on placing the blame for the recent Decepticon losses squarely on Starscream's wingplates. And of course, all the other 'Con commanders thought it was politic to point and laugh, to sneer at him from behind raised servos, as if it was funny to be threatened by their supreme leader.
The Decepticon leader hadn't won his place by smiling and asking politely. He'd had no chance but to repeatedly apologize, and keep the table between himself and his leader. As if it was his fault they were running out of mechs, and losing more ground than they gained. It wasn't FAIR, for Primus' sake. And in the meantime, Starscream was treated like a daft sparkling, and patronized in every way possible.
"What are you looking at, rust bucket?!" he snarled, as soon as he'd stopped ex-venting and pacing angrily enough to notice he had an audience. And it was an oddly apt description. Except for the gleaming Decepticon insignia, standing boldly out on the opposite 'con's chest- plate, the bot seemed like he should be offline. His frame was scraped and dented in more places than one could hope to count, his paint was cracked and peeling, and the original color was almost impossible to determine.
For a brief moment, Starscream's optics narrowed. He'd never met this 'con before. Not that he knew all of them. But he certainly knew the ones who served on Megatron's flagship. This bot wasn't familiar. And then he decided he didn't care. Megatron knew how to take care of himself. "Frag you." he snarled instead, and turned to leave. He just wanted a fuel cube and his berth.
The reply, however, brought him up short. "Don't mind if you do." Slowly, almost Holo-net movie style, Starscream turned back toward the other mech, optics wide. "What did you say?" The other mech snorted, his own optics trailing over Starscream's frame like only a sparkbond should. It was possibly indecent!
"I said," the strange mech stressed the word, "that I want you to frag me."