Teach Me How To Feel {Smokescreen}

Chapter 12

I own none of the characters except for Starlight

“Okay, repeat after me”, Smokescreen said to a sitting Starlight. “My name” “My name” “Is” “Is” “Starlight” “Starlight”. “Now repeat it without me”, he said looking at her. “My name is Starlight”, she said perfectly. “Good”, he said smiling and helping her up. “You’re doing great”, he said tapping her helm. What happened next surprised them both. Starlight giggled. Her servo flew to her mouth. “Requesting origin of noise”, she asked feeling warmth grow on her faceplates. Her optics grew wider. “Also requesting the origin of increased temperature in face plates”. Smokescreen couldn't stop laughing. “Firstly, that noise came from you princess. Secondly humans call that blushing. It’s when one embarrasses themselves or romantic involvement”, he said winking at her. “Smokescreen to the ground bridge, new recon mission”, Arcee said over the loud speaker. “I’ll be back soon”, he said drawing closer to her. With that, Smokescreen left a bewildered Starlight to her own senses. Starlight furiously rubbed her face plates to restore their regular temperature. “New mission: Fix the way Starlight speaks”.

Smokescreen returned about 3 hours later. When he returned, Starlight was no where to be found. “Hey Wheeljack, where is Star?”, he asked growing concerned. Wheeljack smirked feeling Smokescreen tension. “She’s in the back room. And I think she has a little surprise for you”.

Sure enough Starlight was sitting in the backroom on an energon crate. “Hey Star”, he said feeling a wave of relief wash over him. “Hello Smokescreen”, Starlight replied. “Wait, what did you just say?”, he asked a little startled. “ I said the human word for greeting which is hello”, she said automatically. “Wow Star you’re getting better at this talking thing”, he said taking her face into his servo. Her optics grew a little wider and he could feel her cheek plates heating up again. But she took a small breath and kept herself together. “Thank you”, she said putting her servos on his arms. “You like normal, yes? So I want to be normal, so you would like me”, she said proud of her new found vocabulary. Smokescreen gave a small laugh. “Star it doesn't matter to me if you talk like this or you talked like a computer. I like you, not the way you talk or the way you act. Just you”, he said drawing her closer. Smokescreen didn’t even realize what he was doing until it happened. His lips met hers and shared a short sweet kiss. When Smokescreen pulled away, Starlight stumbled back a little. “You okay?”, he said grabbing her arm. “Yes”, she said briefly getting her balance. Starlight’s optics flickered a bit. “I need to take a seat”, she said heavily. She collapsed a little but she was still online. “Do you want me to get Wheeljack? He can probably help you”, Smokescreen said feeling her going in and out. “No”, she said sternly. “I must get through this myself. If Wheeljack knows about this, he will shut me down. I have come too far to be shut down now”, she said getting up. She pulled herself up. “I am fine”, she said pushing him off a little bit. “Okay”, he said still watching her. “Hey Smokescreen, I need your help with something”, Arcee said interrupting. In all the time Star had been there, she had never gotten a good look at Arcee. She was a slender bot with a beautiful blue coat. Starlight could feel warmth now in her chassis. “See you Star”, Smokescreen said before heading out with Arcee. “Hmm”, Starlight said staring at the door way. “I must find the origin of this new feeling. Where is Wheeljack?”

Starlight found Wheeljack sitting with Bulkhead. “Wheeljack, I need to ask you a question”, she said startling both of them. “Starlight was that you?”, Wheeljack asked looking bewildered. “Yes sir”, she said waiting patiently. “Wow Smokescreen did a great job with you”, he said. “So what’s seems to be the problem? “Well I got this strange feeling when I saw Smokescreen walk away with Arcee. It was a warm feeling here”, she said pointing to her chassis. “Well Star”, he said sipping some of the energon he had. “I’d say you’re a bit jealous of Arcee”. “What does jealous mean?”, she asked a little bit confused. “Well it means that your a bit envious of the relationship between Smokes and Arcee”, he said looking at her. “What does envious mean?”, she said even more confused then she was before. “Well envy means being resentful or discontent”. Starlight just gave him a blank look. “Basically Star you don’t like Smokescreen being around Arcee”, Wheeljack said getting a little frustrated. “Oh”, she said finally understanding. “Thank you”, she said walking away. “Wait Star”, Wheeljack called after her. But she didn’t hear him. “I need to get Smokescreen to notice me”, Starlight said thinking about this new revelation. “Arcee must not win”.