The Good, the Bad and Starscream

Chapter 9: Crossfire

Another week passed after Wheeljack had gained his Earth-based vehicle mode - a car, of course, Starscream thought condescendingly - and it was once again Bulkhead's turn to 'converse' with Starscream. The order of Autobots conversing with Starscream after Ratchet was Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee and then Optimus before returning to Ratchet.

Optimus tried as much as the others to have a civil, personal conversation with the Seeker, but... the Prime wasn't much for getting personal, so like in Bulkhead's session, little talk was made other than asking Starscream about his day and if he liked the Energon. Though Prime did try asking more things now and then, but didn't talk much about himself. He also spoke with the Seeker in a much calmer, more polite manner than Bulkhead ever did. Despite Optimus' calming manner, though, Starscream still found him intimidating, naturally. He was of the same size and power as Megatron, after all, and his stern, quiet, serious nature made him even more intimidating. It was always scary when he raised his voice or expressed anger, whether at Starscream or someone else. His voice would be thundering then, much like Megatron's voice. Yet this terrifying mech was so calm, friendly and understanding... it was so unnatural, gross even, Starscream thought. And he never knew what would set off Prime, despite this one's great control over his emotions, so the Seeker was always uneasy during his sessions with Prime.

Sessions with Bulkhead weren't that much better. He said even less than Optimus and in a much less polite manner. During the next session with Bulkhead, however, a week after Wheeljack arrived and left again, the atmosphere in the room had changed, and the Wrecker was for some reason more chatty than usual.

"Hey, Scream," Bulkhead greeted as he entered the room with an Energon cube, more cheerful than usual. It was weird.

"Hello, Bulkhead," Starscream greeted, much less cheery, in a more neutral voice, putting away a datapad and sitting down on his recharging table like he had the previous sessions after the new decoration of his room. Bulkhead sat down on the small chair that stood by Starscream's small desk with the Rubix Cube and kaleidoscope on. It was just big enough that it could support him without breaking under his huge aft. Though it did squeak a little as he sat down.

"Here's your cube," Bulkhead said and handed over the usual cube. Starscream accepted it and began drinking from it. "How has your day been so far?"

"It's been alright," Starscream replied, the same reply to the same question Bulkhead asked him at their every session. "I've been reading a bit. I'm thinking about going to the command center later. Though I am currently on a very good chapter of my story, so I may first come at evening or late afternoon."

"That's nice," Bulkhead replied briefly. He never made long replies to whatever Starscream said. "Is your cube good?"

"Yes, it's good," Starscream replied, also the same as always. Now there was going to be silence until he finished the cube, followed by a goodbye, and Bulkhead leaving the room with the empty cube. At least, that's how it used to be. But this time...

"How are you doing, Starscream?" the Wrecker suddenly asked.

Starscream was taken aback from the unusual question. Bulkhead never cared about how Starscream was doing. So why now?

"Uh, I'm good," the Seeker replied, then reset his vocalizer before continuing. "How...how are you?"

"I'm doing fine. I'm...uh...I'm sorry for how Jackie tried to attack you last week. He didn't mean it."

Starscream looked confused at him and scoffed. "How do you know if he didn't mean it? I'd like to hear an apology from him, not you."

"Well, he doesn't like you," Bulkhead replied bluntly. "And neither do I. But I'm trying here, we need to get along if you're gonna join us for real."