[IDW] Truth in Advertising - Good Intent

[dracoqueen22]

Summary: Another morning after, and Blurr confronts Starscream for some truth.

Truth in Advertising
Chapter Eighteen: Good Intent

Overheat warnings propelled Blurr out of recharge. He startled awake, feeling parched and dry and why couldn't he move his right side?

Blurr dismissed the warnings and the fact that they were telling him his coolant levels needed to be replenished. He tapped into his short-term memory at the same moment he tilted his helm, finding that he couldn't move because he had a bright red Seeker attached to his right side. Starscream appeared to still be in recharge.

Blurr checked his chronometer. By all accounts, it was too early for Blurr to be online, and Starscream had over-recharged. Wasn't he supposed to be up and out politicking by now?

Blurr tried to ease his way free. There was an arm slung across his chest. Talons hooked into a seam. As he shifted, they dug in harder, scraping the protomesh beneath. Starscream twitched.

Blurr sighed.

The hard way then.

He lifted his shoulder. “Starscream. I'm overheating. Wake up.”

A low sound rose from Starscream's chassis, a soft, almost cute sound. He snuggled in all the harder, his frame blocking one of Blurr's side vents and worsening the problem.

Blurr narrowed his optics. “Starscream!” he hissed, and reached over with his free hand, poking a finger into one of the vents on Starscream's chest. “Get! Up!”

Starscream stirred, kneading at Blurr's armor with his fingers as he stretched across the berth, their armor sliding together.

“Mm?”

“Wake up!” Blurr said, a little louder this time, and he gave Starscream's shoulder a shove.

Crimson optics snapped online, only to dim by a fraction immediately thereafter. “Why are you squirming?” he asked, but he only sounded half-aware.

“Because I'm overheating.” Blurr shrugged his entire right side and tried to ease off the berth again. “Back off.”

Starscream clicked his glossa, but loosened his grip on Blurr. “You are an incorrigible berth mate. Have you no respect for a lazy morning in?”

“Not when I need to move.” Blurr shrugged off the last of clingy Seeker and nearly toppled out of the berth as he fought his way free.

He grimaced as flakes of dried transfluid and lubricant fluttered to the floor. He needed a trip to the washracks as much as he desperately needed coolant and energon. Blurr brushed at them in vain before realizing he would need a full wash.

“I know you have coolant or something around here,” Blurr added with a pointed look at the slowly rising Seeker.

Starscream stretched his arms over his helm, his wings flicking up and down as though stretching as well. “In the other room. With the energon. Help yourself.” His field was a lazy flicker against Blurr's, thick with sated pleasure.

Blurr spun on a heelstrut before Starscream could convince him back into the berth. He did not speed from the room, despite evidence to the contrary. It was just that the relentless pinging of his systems was beyond an annoyance.

He hurried through the receiving room and into the connecting room that served as Starscream's energon storage. He hadn't been here often enough to know his way around, but he knew what a bottle of coolant looked like and sure enough, found one in a nearby cabinet. He found several, actually, most of them blended for Seekers, but two were Racer blend.

There would be no reason for Starscream to have these, Blurr realized as he replenished his exhausted stores and the alerts in his system shifted from red to orange to ready green. He frowned as he examined the label. Not only was it Racer blend, but it was Blurr's favorite. His optics narrowed.

He wasn't sure he liked the implications here.

“Did you save me any?” Starscream asked as he came strutting into the room, his field scarily perky. He was smirking, but then, that was par for the course when it came to Starscream.

“You have enough here to supply a Spec Ops team,” Blurr said with a raised orbital ridge. He put the cap back on the coolant and shoved it back into the cabinet.

Now to find some energon.

Starscream plopped down at the table scrunched into the corner, perching himself on one of the three stools. “I have learned to be prepared,” he said in an amused tone. “What's on the menu, barkeep?”

Blurr shot him a dark look. “I'm not here to be your servant.”

“But you are already up,” Starscream purred as he leaned against the table and propped his chin on his palm. “I like my energon sweet and sultry.”

Blurr bit back a sigh and started rummaging through the cabinets again. He was unsurprised to find different grades of energon and a nice variety of flavors and mixes to spice it up. Starscream was nothing if not determined to spoil himself.

“What's with the re-frame?” Blurr asked as he started to pull out everything he'd need to mix up a good energon blend.

Not engex, thank you very much. He didn't need to start the day overcharged.

Starscream's field went still and then shrank. “I felt it was time for a change,” he said in a bland tone. “The old frame was one meant for war. I had to prove that such things were no longer on my agenda.”

Blurr paused and looked over his shoulder. “So you deliberately made yourself vulnerable to prove a point?”

“It was just as big a risk to keep my battle-grade armor and weapons,” Starscream retorted, his too-thin plating clamped tightly to his protoform. “I am not incapable of defending myself.”

“No, you're just a brighter target now.” Blurr turned his attention back to his high grade. He wasn't sure why this bothered him so much. “A day after we find out about Obsidian and you make the decision to change to a civilian frame. It doesn't add up.”

Starscream waved a dismissive hand, a motion caught from Blurr's peripheral vision. “This appointment was set ages ago. Long before I ever heard of Obsidian. I'm not worried about him.”

“Of course you're not.”

A sprinkle of magnesium put the finishing touches on the energon. Blurr grabbed a cube of each and joined Starscream at the table. He hauled himself onto his own stool, hooking his pedes around the legs to steady himself.

Starscream's glossa flicked over his lips. “Much obliged,” he purred as he accepted the cube. He gave it a testing sip and made a noise of appreciation. “How did you ever learn to mix energon anyway?”

Blurr lifted both orbital ridges. “That was almost a personal question, Starscream. I thought this was business.”

“It is,” Starscream said, but he had a startled look on his face. His wings twitched and he leaned back on his stool, wiping his face clear of expression. “And speaking of business, I think we should host a question and answer session for the people of Cybertron.”

Blurr tilted his helm. “What?”

Starscream's free hand tapped on the table, claws clicking a steady staccato. “It would be an opportunity for me to connect with my constituents. Let them offer suggestions or proposals. It would help me identify what problems are rated higher than the others. And we should hold it at your bar.”

He should have known that was coming. Where else would Starscream hold such an event that would let him speak with the “common Cybertronian”?

“Don't you think that's dangerous?”

Starscream smirked. “Are you afraid, Blurr?”

He snorted. “No, but considering your track record, I feel like I ought to be concerned. You have a bad habit of lying and concealing the actual danger.” He gave Starscream a pointed look.

He was still angry that Starscream was keeping secrets from him. He was angrier at himself for getting into this situation, but Starscream was a much better target. Especially since he was still playing things close to the chassis. Obsidian was obviously not someone to take lightly.

Starscream sighed and rubbed his forehelm. “You certainly know how to hold onto a grudge.”

Blurr finished his energon and rose to his pedes. “Only because you don't know how to apologize when you're wrong.” He dispersed the cube with a flick of his fingers. “I have to go.”

“Wait.”

He paused, half-turning toward Starscream. The Seeker's expression continued to be unreadable, but he was gnawing on his bottom lip. He toyed with his energon cube, his field quiescent and held close.

“I'm waiting,” Blurr said, but not with patience.

Last night, obviously, had been a mistake. One he didn't need to repeat. He would work with Starscream for the good of Cybertron, but sharing the Seeker's berth was proving to be one of the worst decisions he'd ever made.

Starscream rested his cube on the table and rose to his pedes. He crossed his arms over his cockpit, and he was the most uncomfortable Blurr had ever seen him.

“My intentions may have been selfish,” Starscream said, each word carefully chosen as though it was taking him great effort. “And I am sorry for that.”

Blurr cycled his optics. He rebooted his audials as well.

He turned fully toward Starscream, uncertain he had heard correctly. “Go on,” he said, drawing his field in tight so that Starscream could not read the incredulity in it. The last thing he wanted was for Starscream to realize how much he'd surprised Blurr.

Starscream outright scowled and rolled his optics. “I've apologized. What more do you want from me?”

Blurr supposed it was the best he was going to get. He shook his helm. “Nothing. I guess that'll do. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get clean before I start to itch.”

“I do have washracks here, you know. And they'll be better than what you'll get out there,” Starscream pointed out.

He looked… well, he looked offended. As if Blurr had spat upon his hospitality by implying he intended to leave.

Sometimes, navigating Starscream was like maneuvering through a minefield. And he supposed it would be an insult to turn down the offer. Blurr swallowed down a sigh.

“Thanks for the offer,” he said. “I'll take you up on that.” He paused and considered before adding, “Are you joining me?” He assumed that the offer had been made for this reason.

Starscream shook his helm and unfolded his arms, picking up his half-finished energon. “No. I have some things I need to take care of first.”

Hmmm. Interesting.

Blurr shrugged. “If you say so.” He turned to leave the room, a little bounce in his step. The dried fluids really were starting to itch and it would be a luxury to get to wash up in peace.

The communal racks just weren't private and some mechs thought they could be handsy and get away with it. Blurr helped them understand otherwise, but it was still frustrating as the Pit.

“Blurr?”

He paused in the doorway and looked back at Starscream, who was suddenly examining his energon as though it was the answer to the universe.

“Yeah?”

Starscream fiddled with the cube, tracing the lip of it with one finger. “We're partners, right?” he asked.

Blurr's optics narrowed. “Last time I checked. Why?”

“No reason.” He shook his helm and flicked his free hand at Blurr. “Enjoy your bath.”

Blurr tossed him a look, but left the room anyway. Starscream was acting fragging weird lately and he'd be damned if he knew why.

Maybe it was time to ask Jazz for some advice.

***

a/n: Another chapter down!

As always, feedback is always welcome and appreciated.