[TF] Uncharted Territory 10/28
Aug. 29th, 2019 06:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracoqueen22Title: Uncharted Territory
Universe: Transformers AR, Flights of Fancy AU
Characters: Blurr/Starscream, Original Human Character(s), Sari Sumdac, Miko Nakadai, Ratchet, Megatron, Rodimus, Red Alert, Others
Rated: M
Enticements: Sexual Content, Harpy/Human Sexual Content
Summary: There were a lot of things Blurr knew with great certainty: his path, his future, his happiness. Then Starscream swooped into his life and turned everything upside down in the best possible way.
Uncharted Territory
Chapter Ten
Finals came.
Blurr spent the week of them barely sleeping, studying furiously, and utterly relieved Starscream stayed throughout the whole week. Not to cuddle and kiss, as much fun as that was, but to help.
He quizzed Blurr. He went over math problems Blurr still couldn’t parse. He pointed out grammatical errors in two of the three papers Blurr had to submit. He brought Blurr coffee in the mornings and learned how to manipulate the laptop enough to order delivery online.
The sight of him painstakingly tapping the keys with his talons would never cease to be adorable to Blurr.
Blurr passed all of his classes. Even physics.
Thank Primus for the nearly two week long winter break. Even if he did have to spend it on campus. Because he wasn’t going home.
“Another holiday?” Starscream had asked with a frown. “Humans sure have a lot of them.”
“Well, there are a lot of us, and we’re all different,” Blurr had replied with a shrug. “A lot of people like the Winter Solstice. Lots of free time and good food and gifts.” He’d focused harder on the laundry, pretending it took most of his concentration to fold his jeans and socks properly. “It’s just the way we are.”
“And you’re not going to go home?” Starscream had asked, concern deep in his voice, and echoes of his never-ending curiosity.
“No.”
Blurr left it at that, aware his tone was flat and more than a bit rude, but Starscream didn’t press. Blurr wasn’t ready to share the reasons why yet. Any human would understand with a couple clipped words.
“I’m gay.”
Bisexual, to be more accurate, but to his parents, gay and bisexual were the same thing. Especially when Blurr refused to ignore his interest in men and focus only on women.
But Starscream, he wouldn’t get the cultural connotations. It would require a lot of explanation, and it was just so exhausting on top of everything else, Blurr really didn’t want to deal with it. Especially around holidays.
Starscream had made the Autumnal Equinox special for him, however, so Blurr wanted to repay that by giving Starscream something for the Winter Solstice. He’d stayed up late one night, while Starscream snored on the bed, and browsed the online stores until he found the perfect gift for a harpy.
Or well, for Starscream at least, since he was probably as atypical for a harpy as they came. Not that Blurr had met any others, but what typical harpy would spend all their free time with a human?
He’d thought about wrapping it with ribbons and bows and a fancy box, but then felt stupid for even considering it. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but he didn’t want to dump it into Starscream’s hands either.
In the end, he settled for a bag, something Starscream could tie around his waist when he went back to the aerie, and he wouldn’t have to worry about losing it.
All that remained was to actually give it to Starscream.
Finals finished. Friday came. The campus was deserted before the sun started to set, as early as it did here in the first flush of true winter. Even faculty vanished for winter break. The cafeterias closed. The shops closed.
Three years into spending winter break on campus, Blurr had learned. He’d stocked up. He knew all the places that would stay open. He usually camped out in his dorm in a nest of blankets while he played video games or watched movies.
Starscream showed up right after sundown, all smiles and floof, sweeping Blurr up into a squeezing embrace before he could get so much as a word out.
“Great news!” Starscream said as he plopped Blurr back on to his own two feet. “I’m going to stay the whole two weeks.”
Blurr blinked. “What? I thought you said--”
Starscream waved him off. “I asked. Got permission. There’s nothing I’m doing that won’t keep, though Perceptor kept giving me these weird looks.” He tapped his chin with one foretalon. “I think he suspects something.”
“He’s the scientist, right? The one who used to live here?” Blurr asked as nervous energy had him moving quickly, his thoughts skittering again and again to the wrapped bag on his desk.
Starscream nodded. “He’s nosy, too. Him and his mate both.” He snorted.
Hah. Like Starscream had any room to talk. He was nosy, too.
“Are there… well, are there rules or something?” They returned to the quiet privacy of Blurr’s dorm room, not that it mattered since he knew not a single person remained in the entire dorm.
Blurr checked.
Starscream flopped onto Blurr’s bed and wriggled around, as though trying to get his scent back onto the freshly-laundered sheets. “There’s not a rule, though whether that’s because no one’s thought about it, I don’t know.” He bent over the edge of the bed and yanked out some of the pillows Blurr had stuffed underneath it. “It’s uncharted territory.”
Blurr peeled out of his winter wear, boots and heavy jacket and scarf and toboggan, though he left his sweatshirt on. It was cold in here, damn it.
“That’s good,” Blurr said. “I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble.”
Starscream tossed the pillows up onto the bed and arranged them to his liking. “Any trouble would be worth it.”
Heat stole into Blurr’s cheeks. He rubbed the back of his head. Starscream always said those kinds of things so plainly, without hesitation, meanwhile Blurr floundered trying to admit Starscream was his best friend.
“I got you something,” he abruptly blurted out, because he wasn’t like Starscream. He didn’t know how to make words have meaning. “It’s not much but, you know, it’s Winter Solstice after all.”
Starscream rose from the bed, moving forward with eager steps, feathers quirking straight up. “You got me a present?”
Blurr nodded and sucked in a deep breath. He grabbed the sparkly bag from the desk – Starscream loved glittery things, the vain bird.
“It’s early to give it to you,” Blurr admitted as his face burned, and his heart thumped louder and louder in his chest. “I didn’t really want to wait, and it’s kind of my way of saying thank you, too. Plus I didn’t know how long you’d get to stay, and I didn’t want giving it to you to be a rushed thing. So--”
Starscream’s hand gently covered his, where he held the wrapped gift. “Thank you,” he said, cutting off the endless stream of increasingly rushed babble.
Blurr snapped his mouth shut and nodded, letting Starscream take the bag. He watched with bated breath as Starscream plucked at the loose ties with unsurprisingly skillful talons until the large object fell into his palm. Well, it was large to Blurr, but for Starscream’s much larger hand, it fit perfectly.
“It’s a thunder egg,” Blurr said. “Or, I mean, that’s what we call it.”
“It’s a geode,” Starscream said quietly, something in his tone indecipherable. His fingers ran over the surface of the spherical rock as if searching for something. “Though that’s a rather broad term.”
He gripped the rock with both hands and abruptly twisted it. With a crunch and crackle, the rock split into two uneven parts, but the glitter of the crystals shone bright from within. It was hollower than Blurr expected, though again, he also knew it was impossible to tell what was in one without opening it. Buying an uncut thunder egg pretty much ensured it was luck of the draw.
“It’s lovely,” Starscream murmured. “Agate and amethyst both.” He looked at Blurr with a smile curving his lips. “Two of my favorites.”
“Do you like it?” Blurr hoped he didn’t sound too anxious. It shouldn’t be this nerve-wracking to give his best friend maybe lover a gift. What if he’d overstepped? What if giving gifts was against some kind of harpy law? What if Starscream hated it?
“I love it.” Starscream’s eyes were bright and shiny as though he held back tears. “I love that you thought of me, that you wanted to surprise me, that you wanted to make me happy.”
Blurr’s face heated. He rubbed the back of his neck and shuffled his weight. “You’re important to me,” he admitted, and it was his turn to look at the floor. “I’m not good with words so I figured, you know, actions matter. And maybe you don’t know what this time of year means, but I do. This was the best way I could think to say it.”
“It’s perfect.” Starscream moved closer. He cupped Blurr’s face, ever so gentle, tilting him to look up at Starscream. “Thank you.”
Blurr swallowed over a lump in his throat. “I’ve spent the last four years alone during the holidays,” he said. “If anyone should be saying thank you, it’s me.”
“I would never demand gratitude for something freely given,” Starscream said, his voice oddly hushed. “I am with you because there is no place else I’d rather be.”
The lump only got larger, holding within it an outpouring of words Blurr didn’t dare speak, because always on the edge of his conscious, reality waited. Actions, in any case, were better. They said all the words he couldn’t.
He curled his arms around Starscream’s neck and pulled the harpy down the last half-foot to seal their lips together, teeth clacking noisily, a kiss more desperate than soft. Words were inadequate, but the way their bodies pressed together, and how heat flashed between them – that was real and honest.
It was the realest thing Blurr had to hold onto right now.
Starscream returned the kiss eagerly, making a little warble in his throat, as he wrapped his arms around Blurr, an embrace so warm and comforting. His tongue slipped into Blurr’s mouth, warm and wet and slightly rough, and he tasted of sweet things. His feathers tickled where they brushed the few bare spots of Blurr’s skin. He smelled so good, and he was warm, and his arms tightened around Blurr.
Need yawed inside of him. His dick throbbed, responding as it always did when Starscream got close to him, when his tongue touched Blurr’s, or his lips, or when he smiled, or when he touched Blurr at all. Curiosity fueled much of the arousal, but so did genuine need. It was natural, wasn’t it? To be close to the one you cared for and want to touch them, be naked with them, inside and out.
Blurr made a noise, one he was too embarrassed to define, and he deepened the kiss. It turned sloppy and wet, hotter. His hands shook where they held Starscream, pulling him down as much as he was capable. His fingers carded through feathers, silky where the plume slipped against his skin. Damn their height difference!
Hands curled around his thighs, lifting him up, and it was the easiest thing in the universe to wrap his legs around Starscream’s waist, to let the harpy take the burden of his weight. Starscream was abnormally strong, and it never ceased to amaze Blurr, though all it took was several steps forward in the small dormroom for Starscream to drop Blurr down onto the bed. All without losing the kiss, dizzying as it was.
The clash of teeth and tongue, a hot mouth over his throat, his neck, before Starscream devoured his lips again. Arousal pushed through Blurr in a wave of heat, and he found himself rolling up against Starscream, his dick swelling in his jeans, throbbing to the same frantic beat of his heart.
It was an awkward, wriggling scramble backward onto the bed, with Starscream crawling atop him, long feathers trailing behind him, until he blanketed Blurr with his body and heat.
Inevitable progression, Blurr’s brain whispered, and he shivered. His insides twisted and tightened, even as he clamped his thighs around Starscream’s hips and urged the harpy closer, his mouth sealing over Starscream’s. Pinned between Starscream and the bed, heat swallowed him whole.
His heart beat faster and faster, his legs wrapped around Starscream’s waist, and Starscream’s hands still on his thighs, keeping him in place. They were fully clothed, but Blurr felt naked, stripped even, as Starscream rolled down against him, and Blurr rocked up to meet him. It was pressure on his groin, and Starscream’s lips on his, and the distinct throb-throb-throb of his dick as it was trapped between their bodies and the friction of his clothes.
The heat of Starscream’s mouth moved to his throat, teeth grazing over his Adam’s apple, and Blurr moaned. His hands buried themselves in feathers, holding tight, his hips rolling harder and harder against the firm pressure of Starscream’s body. His stomach turned to knots of want, and clothing seemed like the worst kind of barrier. Blurr shivered, another urgent sound spilling through his clenched teeth.
“Star, I’m gonna--” He cut off, choking down a moan, his hips bucking hard against Starscream’s, dick throbbing so hard he felt the beat of it in his ears.
Starscream’s grip on his thighs tightened, pulling him harder against Starscream. His teeth scraped a harsher line against Blurr’s throat, tongue lashing all the space between, and Blurr groaned.
Pleasure lanced through Blurr like a static shock. He jerked, thrusting up against Starscream, dick pulsing in the confines of his jeans. He came, spilling inside his own goddamn pants, moaning like he’d been bent over the bed and screwed within an inch of his life. His thighs squeezed Starscream’s hips, a shuddery breath leaving him, only to be stolen by Starscream’s lips.
He sagged in Starscream’s arms, body trembling, heat flushing everywhere. Echoes of pleasure made his stomach tighten and his heart kept up that frantic pace. He struggled to draw in breaths, around the long, lazy kisses Starscream planted on him, until he was dizzy with it. Until Starscream finally drew back enough to rest his forehead against Blurr’s.
“Thank you for your pleasure,” he murmured.
Blurr groaned and just knew he was blushing. “I came in my pants like some teenager.” He squirmed beneath Starscream, feeling the squishiness centered around his groin. “And worse, you didn’t get anything out of it.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Starscream chuckled and nuzzled him. “I’m afraid your clothes are a bit wet now, however.”
What? Really?
Blurr looked down between their bodies, but all he could see was fluff and feathers and more of the same. No sign of anything that could be a harpy’s, errr, genitals.
“I can change,” Blurr said and leaned up, kissing Starscream again, this time slow and savoring. His body still hummed from the pleasure.
“Thank you for my present,” Starscream murmured against his lips.
I love you, Blurr wanted to say, in return, and startled himself with how genuine it felt and how he suddenly wanted to blurt it out. Until the terror set in, and he forced himself to swallow down the words.
“You’re welcome,” he said instead, and tried not to hate himself for being a coward.
~
A wipedown with a washcloth and a change of clothes later – all done in the privacy of the bathroom, because he could kiss Starscream and hump him to orgasm but apparently not change in front of him, and Blurr found himself back where he expected to spend most of winter break. Cuddled in a nest of pillows and blankets on the bed, with Starscream, snacks nearby and a movie playing in the background.
“So,” Blurr said as he buried himself in the warmth of Starscream’s feathers, “Two whole weeks?”
“If you’ll have me,” Starscream confirmed.
“That’s not even a question.” Blurr curled an arm around Starscream’s body, ear pressed to the harpy’s chest, as he listened to the slower beat of Starscream’s core. “Think I could visit the aerie someday?”
Starscream looked down at him, eyes startled. “You’d want to?”
“Of course! It’s your home.”
“Well then, yes. I’d love to take you. Introduce you.” Starscream grinned and nuzzled him, his exhalations a warm tease that never failed to make Blurr shiver. “In spring though. It’s too cold for a human right now.”
“Right. Because I don’t grow my own goosedown blanket.”
Starscream poked him in the side with a talon. “You’re a brat sometimes.”
Blurr laughed. “So are you.” After all, who was the one who barged into Blurr’s life, made themselves at home, and refused to abandon him? Starscream, that’s who.
Thank Primus for that.
~
“Do we have to?”
Blurr never thought he’d ever be treated to the sound of Starscream whining, but here it was, and he didn’t know if he was sympathetic or amused or annoyed. Possibly a mix of all three.
Starscream trudged along behind him, taloned feet splashing and crunching through the mix of sleet and snow blanketing the sidewalks.
“You’re the one who accepted the invitation in the first place,” Blurr reminded him over his shoulder. He swept the back of his hand over his freezing nose.
Winters in Kaon were so brief. Every year he chastised himself for not buying a heavier coat, and every year, he still didn’t do it because it seemed like a waste.
“I wasn’t fully aware of what I was agreeing to,” Starscream muttered.
“Then this will teach you not to say yes to something you don’t fully understand.” Blurr couldn’t fight his grin any longer.
Oh, he wasn’t anymore enthused as this was definitely Starscream’s fault. But at least he could blame Starscream and listen to his partner cutely complain about it the whole time, only to enjoy himself when he inevitably became the center of attention.
Starscream did so like attention.
Starscream grumbled something Blurr didn’t catch, not because it was too quiet, but because it was in that distinct click-whistle chirp language of the harpies. He’d claimed he’d teach Blurr someday, but Blurr was doubtful his human larynx could replicate the sounds.
Blurr didn’t bother to reply. It was too cold to argue honestly. Cold enough his breath puffed out in icy bursts of grey, and whatever lingering arousal he’d had was gone. It was difficult to say what annoyed Starscream the most at the moment – that he’d agreed to this holiday party without realizing it, or that he’d had to abandon trying to consume Blurr so they wouldn’t miss it.
Blurr shoved his cold hands into his pockets – even with gloves they were freezing – buried himself further in his coat, and picked up the pace. Carefully down the hill, around the corner, through a narrow walkway cut between a row of bushes, and equally carefully up a set of railed stairs, until the Morrow Bunkhouse rose in front of him.
Four stories, each story housing two separate, private apartments, and surrounded by tall trees creaking and rattling in the winter breeze, the Morrow Bunkhouse looked like the perfect setting for a slasher movie. So it came as no surprise that Miko and Sari rented one of the apartments in this building.
They’d invited him and Starscream for a winter holiday party. And then they’d extended that invitation to others they knew Starscream would enjoy spending time with including Rathi and TJ. Blurr didn’t know if Richard would be present, but he assumed so, and probably some members of HARP as well.
Something fluttered in front of his face.
Blurr paused and blinked as another one drifted down, falling on his nose. He looked up with a small smile. He hated the cold, but he loved the snow, and a fresh fall had come. It wasn’t heavy, probably wouldn’t stick unless the temperature dropped further, but it was pretty.
He kept going, climbing the small set of stairs leading up to the porch and the main entrance. He kicked his boots against the edge of the stair, knocking loose the mud and ice, and peered over his shoulder.
Starscream had paused, head tilted back, palms lifted. His lips curved, his eyes closed, the fluff of his feathers fluttering in the faint breeze. Little specks of snow landed on him, instantly melting, but creating little glimmers in the brief dots of moisture.
Primus, he was beautiful.
“We’re going to be late,” Blurr called to him. He didn’t want to shatter the moment, but the truth was, they were already running late.
Starscream had drug his heels, dragged Blurr back into his arms, distracted him with several more kisses and strokes. By the time Blurr wrangled free and checked the time, it was too late to make a gracious entry.
Starscream’s eyes opened, and he lowered his hands. “I’m coming,” he grumbled. “Or not, as the case may be.”
Blurr laughed before he could help himself. “It’s not my fault you started something before we had a place to be.”
“It’s your fault for letting me continue,” Starscream said as he climbed the stairs, the old wood creaking beneath his weight. He shook his head, shaking off the droplets of melted snow, and gave Blurr a heated look. “I expect reimbursement when we get back tonight.”
Heat flooded Blurr’s cheeks. “We’ll see.”
The door opened before Starscream could respond.
“Blurr! Starscream!” Miko came pelting out, a wide grin on her face, a hideous holiday sweater somehow flashing with lights and glitter. “You’re late, but you made it!”
She threw her arms over his shoulder, and Blurr staggered under the unexpected hug. He went still, and she squeezed him tight, smelling of sugar and cinnamon and faintly, of whiskey. Someone had hit the bottle already.
“Yeah, we did,” Blurr said with an awkward pat to her back. “Can you let me go now?”
Miko giggled and bounced back on her heels, her cheeks flushed and her hair loose from the usual pigtails. “Come on. Come inside.” She grabbed his hand and pulled, and she was unnaturally strong for someone so small.
Blurr staggered along after her, Starscream snickering in his wake. Blurr tossed a glare over his shoulder – forever Starscream’s fault, he would swear it – and they plunged into an overwarm foyer. Two sets of stairs curved to the left and right, leading to a second level.
Miko, however, dragged him past the stairs to a doorway just beyond it, 1B printed on a bright copper plaque. The door was cracked, and cheerful music spilled from out.
“They’re here!” Miko announced as she slapped the door open, and Blurr nearly tripped over his own feet as she tugged him inside.
Thankfully, she let him go just inside the doorway, and he was able to catch himself there on the welcome mat, blinking at the sudden shift from overcast sky to painfully bright interior lighting. The sound of a crackling fire threw him at first, until he realized it was coming from the television, but it was roasting hot inside. They must have had the thermostat way up.
“Finally!” Sari peeked out from a nearby doorway, with what looked like flour dusting her cheekbone. “You’re only thirty minutes late, no big deal.”
“It’s Blurr’s fault,” Starscream announced from where he leaned into the doorway, head ducked a little to accommodate his crest feathers.
Sari grinned. “Starscream! Hurry up and get in here. You’re letting out the heat.”
Starscream obeyed, carefully shutting the door behind him. “My apologies.”
“Ignore her. She’s the same person who leaves every light in the apartment on, and then complains the power bill is too high,” Miko said as she dropped down onto the couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table, snagging a cup of what looked like egg nog as she did so.
Possibly spiked egg nog.
Thank, Primus. Blurr was going to need alcohol if he was going to survive this.
“Dae!”
For the second time that night, Blurr was tackled by a hug, though this one much more welcome as he recognized the voice immediately. He grinned as Rathi threw her arms around him and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek, sure to leave a smear of lipstick behind. Her earrings jangled noisily, and like Miko, she was wearing a hideous holiday sweater, and she’d capped her hair with a set of glittering reindeer horns.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it,” Rathi said before she let him go and gave Starscream the same treatment, though she had to rise to her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Dae doesn’t know how to be on time,” TJ said, and Blurr followed his voice to a nearby hallway, where TJ emerged, rubbing his hands down his thighs as if drying them.
Blurr rolled his eyes. “That’s a lie and you know it.” He kicked off his boots near the stack of them already by the door and pulled off his coat, too. There was a stack of those on the back of a chair, so he tossed his over it.
Starscream shook like a dog, feathers fluffing out to help dry them, until Sari bounced up with a bright blue kitchen towel. He took it gratefully, patting over his feathers to wick away the melting snow.
“What did we miss?” Starscream asked as he returned the towel to Sari.
“Nothing important really. Food’s almost done,” Miko tossed over the back of the couch without looking. “You’re just in time for the party games.”
“Wow, aren’t you glad you didn’t miss those?” TJ drawled as he came over and tugged Blurr in for a hug before offering Starscream a hand to shake.
“What a relief,” Blurr said, deadpan. He tugged off his scarf and gloves, shoving one into the pocket of his coat and throwing the other into the pile of outerwear.
From across the room, Rathi noisily sucked in a breath. “Song Dae-Hyeun!” she near-shrieked and stomped his direction, pointing a shaking finger at him. “What in Primus’ name is that? Did you do this?” She whirled on TJ and socked him in the shoulder. “You know better than that.”
“Ow!” TJ hissed and slid away, rubbing his shoulder. “You hit like a damn heavyweight champion, Rathi. Don’t do that. And no, I didn’t do it.”
Blurr frowned. “Do what?” He couldn’t help it, he’d jumped when Rathi used his full name. It was an ingrained instinct at this point.
“This.” Rathi grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him toward a mirror hanging on the wall by the door. She pointed to his neck.
And the large red splotch of a hickey on the left side of his throat. It was dark and speckled, and Blurr suddenly remembered when Starscream had given it to him, and the way he’d gasped and bucked beneath the harpy, desire throbbing through his groin. Starscream’s teeth had scraped his skin as he’d growled in a low tone, before his mouth sealed over Blurr’s in a hungry kiss.
“This had better not belong to Josiah,” Rathi hissed, her eyes flashing with anger, though it wasn’t toward Blurr, but rather the memory of Josiah.
She’d not been fond of him either. Perhaps that should have been his first clue, that neither TJ nor Rathi had ever liked Josiah.
“Of course not.” Blurr slapped his hand over his neck, embarrassment turning his face a brilliant scarlet. He glanced into the mirror and caught Starscream’s gaze, the heat burning in his lover’s eyes.
“Really.” Rathi spun him back around, her hands on his shoulders, her face inches away. “I know it wasn’t me. TJ claims it wasn’t him.”
“It wasn’t! Just for the record,” TJ chimed in. He leaned nearby, hip cocked against the back of the coat-laden chair, his arms crossed. He looked worried.
“It wasn’t TJ, and it wasn’t Josiah,” Blurr said. He looked at the floor because he worried if he looked at Starscream, he would give himself away.
Rathi’s eyes widened. “Are you seeing someone?”
“Well, he obviously didn’t do that to himself,” TJ said with two raised eyebrows.
Blurr wondered if it was possible to die from embarrassment. His face was so red the blush had spread to his ears, he could feel the heat of it. “Yes, I am,” he said, and ducked out of Rathi’s grip to get some space. “And, no. I’m not telling you who it is. I’m not ready to announce it yet.”
“And why not?” Rathi asked, hands on her hips, like she’d transformed into his mother in the past few moments rather than his best friend and former lover, and dear Primus, Blurr wished he hadn’t just had that thought.
“Because I’m not,” Blurr ground out. He folded his arms and hunched his shoulders, but he couldn’t stop himself from glancing at Starscream. The damn harpy was all but preening, his lips spread in a wide, possessive grin, and a heat in his eyes that spoke of a promise for later.
A shiver spread heat up Blurr’s spine.
He chewed on his bottom lip and stared hard at the ground. “It’s new and I don’t want to ruin it by making a big deal out of it just yet,” he said.
You could have heard a pin drop, despite the crackle of the fake fire and the cheerful chirps of the holiday music floating tinny out of the kitchen.
“It’s someone special then,” Rathi said after a moment. She gave a long, decisive nod. “Good. That’s good, Dae. That’s all I want to hear.” She slid her arms over his shoulders, giving him a warm embrace. “You can tell me the juicy details later. When you’re ready.”
Can, she said, though there was always an implication of demand. And Blurr would, of course, tell both of them. When he was sure they’d understand, and he wouldn’t lose them because of it. He didn’t have many people in his life who meant something to him. He didn’t have his family anymore.
He didn’t want to lose TJ and Rathi.
“I will. Promise.”
“I know you do.” Rathi grinned and held his face, rising up to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Now. Let’s party. It’s a holiday!” She patted his cheeks and let him go before spinning around, flicking her long braid over her shoulder.
“I have plenty of egg nog!” Miko announced from the couch, and Rathi threw her legs over the side of the arms to join her.
“Starscream, come join us,” Rathi insisted, scooting herself and Miko over to make room on the couch. She patted the empty cushion. “I’m sure you know all about Dae’s new boyfriend, don’t you?”
Starscream caught Blurr’s gaze from across the room and winked. “I don’t know anything,” he declared as he moved to join the two women, sitting carefully as if worried the couch would not support his weight. “Except, of course, that he’s very charming, impossibly handsome, and extremely smart.”
“Blurr has the best taste,” Rathi said. “I find this very easy to believe.”
Starscream chuckled and pecked a kiss on Rathi’s cheek. “He chose you once, so I must agree.” He peered over her shoulder into her hand. “What are you drinking?”
“It’s egg nog. Spiked, too. Want to try it?” She offered it up.
Starscream gave it a tentative sniff, his nose wrinkling in the way Blurr always found adorable. “By spiked I gather you mean alcoholic.”
“Is there anything better?”
They shared a laugh.
“You know, you can move out of the doorway.” Blurr tore his gaze away from his former lover and his current lover as TJ approached, gently taking his elbow and pulling him from the door. His grip was as firm and careful as Rathi’s had been.
“Yeah, I know. It’s just… Rathi. She’s a whirlwind.” Blurr managed a laugh as TJ pulled him over near a set of glass double doors which led out to a small patio, currently being covered in a light dusting of snow.
They didn’t go outside. They just hovered in front of the doors, which were just reflective enough that their reflections stared back at them. In it, Blurr could also see Rathi and Starscream and Miko on the couch, animatedly chatting. Peripherally, he caught Sari stick her head out of what must have been the kitchen and shout for Miko’s help.
“She’s an unstoppable force,” TJ agreed. He gently bumped Blurr’s shoulder with his, and offered a gentle smile. “I’m happy for you, Blurr. You certainly look happy. I know that’s something we all want.”
He looked happy?
That was actually kind of nice to know.
“He’s amazing,” Blurr admitted, because it was killing him that he couldn’t talk about Starscream as freely as he wanted. “It’s… it’s complicated, otherwise I’d tell you both about it. But yeah, I’m happy. Right now, I’m happy.”
He realized, maybe a bit belatedly, that there was nothing about his statement he could call a lie. He was happy with Starscream, complications and all.
“Good.” TJ clapped a hand on Blurr’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Blurr smiled.
Honestly?
He was, too.
*
Universe: Transformers AR, Flights of Fancy AU
Characters: Blurr/Starscream, Original Human Character(s), Sari Sumdac, Miko Nakadai, Ratchet, Megatron, Rodimus, Red Alert, Others
Rated: M
Enticements: Sexual Content, Harpy/Human Sexual Content
Summary: There were a lot of things Blurr knew with great certainty: his path, his future, his happiness. Then Starscream swooped into his life and turned everything upside down in the best possible way.
Chapter Ten
Finals came.
Blurr spent the week of them barely sleeping, studying furiously, and utterly relieved Starscream stayed throughout the whole week. Not to cuddle and kiss, as much fun as that was, but to help.
He quizzed Blurr. He went over math problems Blurr still couldn’t parse. He pointed out grammatical errors in two of the three papers Blurr had to submit. He brought Blurr coffee in the mornings and learned how to manipulate the laptop enough to order delivery online.
The sight of him painstakingly tapping the keys with his talons would never cease to be adorable to Blurr.
Blurr passed all of his classes. Even physics.
Thank Primus for the nearly two week long winter break. Even if he did have to spend it on campus. Because he wasn’t going home.
“Another holiday?” Starscream had asked with a frown. “Humans sure have a lot of them.”
“Well, there are a lot of us, and we’re all different,” Blurr had replied with a shrug. “A lot of people like the Winter Solstice. Lots of free time and good food and gifts.” He’d focused harder on the laundry, pretending it took most of his concentration to fold his jeans and socks properly. “It’s just the way we are.”
“And you’re not going to go home?” Starscream had asked, concern deep in his voice, and echoes of his never-ending curiosity.
“No.”
Blurr left it at that, aware his tone was flat and more than a bit rude, but Starscream didn’t press. Blurr wasn’t ready to share the reasons why yet. Any human would understand with a couple clipped words.
“I’m gay.”
Bisexual, to be more accurate, but to his parents, gay and bisexual were the same thing. Especially when Blurr refused to ignore his interest in men and focus only on women.
But Starscream, he wouldn’t get the cultural connotations. It would require a lot of explanation, and it was just so exhausting on top of everything else, Blurr really didn’t want to deal with it. Especially around holidays.
Starscream had made the Autumnal Equinox special for him, however, so Blurr wanted to repay that by giving Starscream something for the Winter Solstice. He’d stayed up late one night, while Starscream snored on the bed, and browsed the online stores until he found the perfect gift for a harpy.
Or well, for Starscream at least, since he was probably as atypical for a harpy as they came. Not that Blurr had met any others, but what typical harpy would spend all their free time with a human?
He’d thought about wrapping it with ribbons and bows and a fancy box, but then felt stupid for even considering it. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but he didn’t want to dump it into Starscream’s hands either.
In the end, he settled for a bag, something Starscream could tie around his waist when he went back to the aerie, and he wouldn’t have to worry about losing it.
All that remained was to actually give it to Starscream.
Finals finished. Friday came. The campus was deserted before the sun started to set, as early as it did here in the first flush of true winter. Even faculty vanished for winter break. The cafeterias closed. The shops closed.
Three years into spending winter break on campus, Blurr had learned. He’d stocked up. He knew all the places that would stay open. He usually camped out in his dorm in a nest of blankets while he played video games or watched movies.
Starscream showed up right after sundown, all smiles and floof, sweeping Blurr up into a squeezing embrace before he could get so much as a word out.
“Great news!” Starscream said as he plopped Blurr back on to his own two feet. “I’m going to stay the whole two weeks.”
Blurr blinked. “What? I thought you said--”
Starscream waved him off. “I asked. Got permission. There’s nothing I’m doing that won’t keep, though Perceptor kept giving me these weird looks.” He tapped his chin with one foretalon. “I think he suspects something.”
“He’s the scientist, right? The one who used to live here?” Blurr asked as nervous energy had him moving quickly, his thoughts skittering again and again to the wrapped bag on his desk.
Starscream nodded. “He’s nosy, too. Him and his mate both.” He snorted.
Hah. Like Starscream had any room to talk. He was nosy, too.
“Are there… well, are there rules or something?” They returned to the quiet privacy of Blurr’s dorm room, not that it mattered since he knew not a single person remained in the entire dorm.
Blurr checked.
Starscream flopped onto Blurr’s bed and wriggled around, as though trying to get his scent back onto the freshly-laundered sheets. “There’s not a rule, though whether that’s because no one’s thought about it, I don’t know.” He bent over the edge of the bed and yanked out some of the pillows Blurr had stuffed underneath it. “It’s uncharted territory.”
Blurr peeled out of his winter wear, boots and heavy jacket and scarf and toboggan, though he left his sweatshirt on. It was cold in here, damn it.
“That’s good,” Blurr said. “I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble.”
Starscream tossed the pillows up onto the bed and arranged them to his liking. “Any trouble would be worth it.”
Heat stole into Blurr’s cheeks. He rubbed the back of his head. Starscream always said those kinds of things so plainly, without hesitation, meanwhile Blurr floundered trying to admit Starscream was his best friend.
“I got you something,” he abruptly blurted out, because he wasn’t like Starscream. He didn’t know how to make words have meaning. “It’s not much but, you know, it’s Winter Solstice after all.”
Starscream rose from the bed, moving forward with eager steps, feathers quirking straight up. “You got me a present?”
Blurr nodded and sucked in a deep breath. He grabbed the sparkly bag from the desk – Starscream loved glittery things, the vain bird.
“It’s early to give it to you,” Blurr admitted as his face burned, and his heart thumped louder and louder in his chest. “I didn’t really want to wait, and it’s kind of my way of saying thank you, too. Plus I didn’t know how long you’d get to stay, and I didn’t want giving it to you to be a rushed thing. So--”
Starscream’s hand gently covered his, where he held the wrapped gift. “Thank you,” he said, cutting off the endless stream of increasingly rushed babble.
Blurr snapped his mouth shut and nodded, letting Starscream take the bag. He watched with bated breath as Starscream plucked at the loose ties with unsurprisingly skillful talons until the large object fell into his palm. Well, it was large to Blurr, but for Starscream’s much larger hand, it fit perfectly.
“It’s a thunder egg,” Blurr said. “Or, I mean, that’s what we call it.”
“It’s a geode,” Starscream said quietly, something in his tone indecipherable. His fingers ran over the surface of the spherical rock as if searching for something. “Though that’s a rather broad term.”
He gripped the rock with both hands and abruptly twisted it. With a crunch and crackle, the rock split into two uneven parts, but the glitter of the crystals shone bright from within. It was hollower than Blurr expected, though again, he also knew it was impossible to tell what was in one without opening it. Buying an uncut thunder egg pretty much ensured it was luck of the draw.
“It’s lovely,” Starscream murmured. “Agate and amethyst both.” He looked at Blurr with a smile curving his lips. “Two of my favorites.”
“Do you like it?” Blurr hoped he didn’t sound too anxious. It shouldn’t be this nerve-wracking to give his best friend maybe lover a gift. What if he’d overstepped? What if giving gifts was against some kind of harpy law? What if Starscream hated it?
“I love it.” Starscream’s eyes were bright and shiny as though he held back tears. “I love that you thought of me, that you wanted to surprise me, that you wanted to make me happy.”
Blurr’s face heated. He rubbed the back of his neck and shuffled his weight. “You’re important to me,” he admitted, and it was his turn to look at the floor. “I’m not good with words so I figured, you know, actions matter. And maybe you don’t know what this time of year means, but I do. This was the best way I could think to say it.”
“It’s perfect.” Starscream moved closer. He cupped Blurr’s face, ever so gentle, tilting him to look up at Starscream. “Thank you.”
Blurr swallowed over a lump in his throat. “I’ve spent the last four years alone during the holidays,” he said. “If anyone should be saying thank you, it’s me.”
“I would never demand gratitude for something freely given,” Starscream said, his voice oddly hushed. “I am with you because there is no place else I’d rather be.”
The lump only got larger, holding within it an outpouring of words Blurr didn’t dare speak, because always on the edge of his conscious, reality waited. Actions, in any case, were better. They said all the words he couldn’t.
He curled his arms around Starscream’s neck and pulled the harpy down the last half-foot to seal their lips together, teeth clacking noisily, a kiss more desperate than soft. Words were inadequate, but the way their bodies pressed together, and how heat flashed between them – that was real and honest.
It was the realest thing Blurr had to hold onto right now.
Starscream returned the kiss eagerly, making a little warble in his throat, as he wrapped his arms around Blurr, an embrace so warm and comforting. His tongue slipped into Blurr’s mouth, warm and wet and slightly rough, and he tasted of sweet things. His feathers tickled where they brushed the few bare spots of Blurr’s skin. He smelled so good, and he was warm, and his arms tightened around Blurr.
Need yawed inside of him. His dick throbbed, responding as it always did when Starscream got close to him, when his tongue touched Blurr’s, or his lips, or when he smiled, or when he touched Blurr at all. Curiosity fueled much of the arousal, but so did genuine need. It was natural, wasn’t it? To be close to the one you cared for and want to touch them, be naked with them, inside and out.
Blurr made a noise, one he was too embarrassed to define, and he deepened the kiss. It turned sloppy and wet, hotter. His hands shook where they held Starscream, pulling him down as much as he was capable. His fingers carded through feathers, silky where the plume slipped against his skin. Damn their height difference!
Hands curled around his thighs, lifting him up, and it was the easiest thing in the universe to wrap his legs around Starscream’s waist, to let the harpy take the burden of his weight. Starscream was abnormally strong, and it never ceased to amaze Blurr, though all it took was several steps forward in the small dormroom for Starscream to drop Blurr down onto the bed. All without losing the kiss, dizzying as it was.
The clash of teeth and tongue, a hot mouth over his throat, his neck, before Starscream devoured his lips again. Arousal pushed through Blurr in a wave of heat, and he found himself rolling up against Starscream, his dick swelling in his jeans, throbbing to the same frantic beat of his heart.
It was an awkward, wriggling scramble backward onto the bed, with Starscream crawling atop him, long feathers trailing behind him, until he blanketed Blurr with his body and heat.
Inevitable progression, Blurr’s brain whispered, and he shivered. His insides twisted and tightened, even as he clamped his thighs around Starscream’s hips and urged the harpy closer, his mouth sealing over Starscream’s. Pinned between Starscream and the bed, heat swallowed him whole.
His heart beat faster and faster, his legs wrapped around Starscream’s waist, and Starscream’s hands still on his thighs, keeping him in place. They were fully clothed, but Blurr felt naked, stripped even, as Starscream rolled down against him, and Blurr rocked up to meet him. It was pressure on his groin, and Starscream’s lips on his, and the distinct throb-throb-throb of his dick as it was trapped between their bodies and the friction of his clothes.
The heat of Starscream’s mouth moved to his throat, teeth grazing over his Adam’s apple, and Blurr moaned. His hands buried themselves in feathers, holding tight, his hips rolling harder and harder against the firm pressure of Starscream’s body. His stomach turned to knots of want, and clothing seemed like the worst kind of barrier. Blurr shivered, another urgent sound spilling through his clenched teeth.
“Star, I’m gonna--” He cut off, choking down a moan, his hips bucking hard against Starscream’s, dick throbbing so hard he felt the beat of it in his ears.
Starscream’s grip on his thighs tightened, pulling him harder against Starscream. His teeth scraped a harsher line against Blurr’s throat, tongue lashing all the space between, and Blurr groaned.
Pleasure lanced through Blurr like a static shock. He jerked, thrusting up against Starscream, dick pulsing in the confines of his jeans. He came, spilling inside his own goddamn pants, moaning like he’d been bent over the bed and screwed within an inch of his life. His thighs squeezed Starscream’s hips, a shuddery breath leaving him, only to be stolen by Starscream’s lips.
He sagged in Starscream’s arms, body trembling, heat flushing everywhere. Echoes of pleasure made his stomach tighten and his heart kept up that frantic pace. He struggled to draw in breaths, around the long, lazy kisses Starscream planted on him, until he was dizzy with it. Until Starscream finally drew back enough to rest his forehead against Blurr’s.
“Thank you for your pleasure,” he murmured.
Blurr groaned and just knew he was blushing. “I came in my pants like some teenager.” He squirmed beneath Starscream, feeling the squishiness centered around his groin. “And worse, you didn’t get anything out of it.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Starscream chuckled and nuzzled him. “I’m afraid your clothes are a bit wet now, however.”
What? Really?
Blurr looked down between their bodies, but all he could see was fluff and feathers and more of the same. No sign of anything that could be a harpy’s, errr, genitals.
“I can change,” Blurr said and leaned up, kissing Starscream again, this time slow and savoring. His body still hummed from the pleasure.
“Thank you for my present,” Starscream murmured against his lips.
I love you, Blurr wanted to say, in return, and startled himself with how genuine it felt and how he suddenly wanted to blurt it out. Until the terror set in, and he forced himself to swallow down the words.
“You’re welcome,” he said instead, and tried not to hate himself for being a coward.
A wipedown with a washcloth and a change of clothes later – all done in the privacy of the bathroom, because he could kiss Starscream and hump him to orgasm but apparently not change in front of him, and Blurr found himself back where he expected to spend most of winter break. Cuddled in a nest of pillows and blankets on the bed, with Starscream, snacks nearby and a movie playing in the background.
“So,” Blurr said as he buried himself in the warmth of Starscream’s feathers, “Two whole weeks?”
“If you’ll have me,” Starscream confirmed.
“That’s not even a question.” Blurr curled an arm around Starscream’s body, ear pressed to the harpy’s chest, as he listened to the slower beat of Starscream’s core. “Think I could visit the aerie someday?”
Starscream looked down at him, eyes startled. “You’d want to?”
“Of course! It’s your home.”
“Well then, yes. I’d love to take you. Introduce you.” Starscream grinned and nuzzled him, his exhalations a warm tease that never failed to make Blurr shiver. “In spring though. It’s too cold for a human right now.”
“Right. Because I don’t grow my own goosedown blanket.”
Starscream poked him in the side with a talon. “You’re a brat sometimes.”
Blurr laughed. “So are you.” After all, who was the one who barged into Blurr’s life, made themselves at home, and refused to abandon him? Starscream, that’s who.
Thank Primus for that.
“Do we have to?”
Blurr never thought he’d ever be treated to the sound of Starscream whining, but here it was, and he didn’t know if he was sympathetic or amused or annoyed. Possibly a mix of all three.
Starscream trudged along behind him, taloned feet splashing and crunching through the mix of sleet and snow blanketing the sidewalks.
“You’re the one who accepted the invitation in the first place,” Blurr reminded him over his shoulder. He swept the back of his hand over his freezing nose.
Winters in Kaon were so brief. Every year he chastised himself for not buying a heavier coat, and every year, he still didn’t do it because it seemed like a waste.
“I wasn’t fully aware of what I was agreeing to,” Starscream muttered.
“Then this will teach you not to say yes to something you don’t fully understand.” Blurr couldn’t fight his grin any longer.
Oh, he wasn’t anymore enthused as this was definitely Starscream’s fault. But at least he could blame Starscream and listen to his partner cutely complain about it the whole time, only to enjoy himself when he inevitably became the center of attention.
Starscream did so like attention.
Starscream grumbled something Blurr didn’t catch, not because it was too quiet, but because it was in that distinct click-whistle chirp language of the harpies. He’d claimed he’d teach Blurr someday, but Blurr was doubtful his human larynx could replicate the sounds.
Blurr didn’t bother to reply. It was too cold to argue honestly. Cold enough his breath puffed out in icy bursts of grey, and whatever lingering arousal he’d had was gone. It was difficult to say what annoyed Starscream the most at the moment – that he’d agreed to this holiday party without realizing it, or that he’d had to abandon trying to consume Blurr so they wouldn’t miss it.
Blurr shoved his cold hands into his pockets – even with gloves they were freezing – buried himself further in his coat, and picked up the pace. Carefully down the hill, around the corner, through a narrow walkway cut between a row of bushes, and equally carefully up a set of railed stairs, until the Morrow Bunkhouse rose in front of him.
Four stories, each story housing two separate, private apartments, and surrounded by tall trees creaking and rattling in the winter breeze, the Morrow Bunkhouse looked like the perfect setting for a slasher movie. So it came as no surprise that Miko and Sari rented one of the apartments in this building.
They’d invited him and Starscream for a winter holiday party. And then they’d extended that invitation to others they knew Starscream would enjoy spending time with including Rathi and TJ. Blurr didn’t know if Richard would be present, but he assumed so, and probably some members of HARP as well.
Something fluttered in front of his face.
Blurr paused and blinked as another one drifted down, falling on his nose. He looked up with a small smile. He hated the cold, but he loved the snow, and a fresh fall had come. It wasn’t heavy, probably wouldn’t stick unless the temperature dropped further, but it was pretty.
He kept going, climbing the small set of stairs leading up to the porch and the main entrance. He kicked his boots against the edge of the stair, knocking loose the mud and ice, and peered over his shoulder.
Starscream had paused, head tilted back, palms lifted. His lips curved, his eyes closed, the fluff of his feathers fluttering in the faint breeze. Little specks of snow landed on him, instantly melting, but creating little glimmers in the brief dots of moisture.
Primus, he was beautiful.
“We’re going to be late,” Blurr called to him. He didn’t want to shatter the moment, but the truth was, they were already running late.
Starscream had drug his heels, dragged Blurr back into his arms, distracted him with several more kisses and strokes. By the time Blurr wrangled free and checked the time, it was too late to make a gracious entry.
Starscream’s eyes opened, and he lowered his hands. “I’m coming,” he grumbled. “Or not, as the case may be.”
Blurr laughed before he could help himself. “It’s not my fault you started something before we had a place to be.”
“It’s your fault for letting me continue,” Starscream said as he climbed the stairs, the old wood creaking beneath his weight. He shook his head, shaking off the droplets of melted snow, and gave Blurr a heated look. “I expect reimbursement when we get back tonight.”
Heat flooded Blurr’s cheeks. “We’ll see.”
The door opened before Starscream could respond.
“Blurr! Starscream!” Miko came pelting out, a wide grin on her face, a hideous holiday sweater somehow flashing with lights and glitter. “You’re late, but you made it!”
She threw her arms over his shoulder, and Blurr staggered under the unexpected hug. He went still, and she squeezed him tight, smelling of sugar and cinnamon and faintly, of whiskey. Someone had hit the bottle already.
“Yeah, we did,” Blurr said with an awkward pat to her back. “Can you let me go now?”
Miko giggled and bounced back on her heels, her cheeks flushed and her hair loose from the usual pigtails. “Come on. Come inside.” She grabbed his hand and pulled, and she was unnaturally strong for someone so small.
Blurr staggered along after her, Starscream snickering in his wake. Blurr tossed a glare over his shoulder – forever Starscream’s fault, he would swear it – and they plunged into an overwarm foyer. Two sets of stairs curved to the left and right, leading to a second level.
Miko, however, dragged him past the stairs to a doorway just beyond it, 1B printed on a bright copper plaque. The door was cracked, and cheerful music spilled from out.
“They’re here!” Miko announced as she slapped the door open, and Blurr nearly tripped over his own feet as she tugged him inside.
Thankfully, she let him go just inside the doorway, and he was able to catch himself there on the welcome mat, blinking at the sudden shift from overcast sky to painfully bright interior lighting. The sound of a crackling fire threw him at first, until he realized it was coming from the television, but it was roasting hot inside. They must have had the thermostat way up.
“Finally!” Sari peeked out from a nearby doorway, with what looked like flour dusting her cheekbone. “You’re only thirty minutes late, no big deal.”
“It’s Blurr’s fault,” Starscream announced from where he leaned into the doorway, head ducked a little to accommodate his crest feathers.
Sari grinned. “Starscream! Hurry up and get in here. You’re letting out the heat.”
Starscream obeyed, carefully shutting the door behind him. “My apologies.”
“Ignore her. She’s the same person who leaves every light in the apartment on, and then complains the power bill is too high,” Miko said as she dropped down onto the couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table, snagging a cup of what looked like egg nog as she did so.
Possibly spiked egg nog.
Thank, Primus. Blurr was going to need alcohol if he was going to survive this.
“Dae!”
For the second time that night, Blurr was tackled by a hug, though this one much more welcome as he recognized the voice immediately. He grinned as Rathi threw her arms around him and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek, sure to leave a smear of lipstick behind. Her earrings jangled noisily, and like Miko, she was wearing a hideous holiday sweater, and she’d capped her hair with a set of glittering reindeer horns.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it,” Rathi said before she let him go and gave Starscream the same treatment, though she had to rise to her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Dae doesn’t know how to be on time,” TJ said, and Blurr followed his voice to a nearby hallway, where TJ emerged, rubbing his hands down his thighs as if drying them.
Blurr rolled his eyes. “That’s a lie and you know it.” He kicked off his boots near the stack of them already by the door and pulled off his coat, too. There was a stack of those on the back of a chair, so he tossed his over it.
Starscream shook like a dog, feathers fluffing out to help dry them, until Sari bounced up with a bright blue kitchen towel. He took it gratefully, patting over his feathers to wick away the melting snow.
“What did we miss?” Starscream asked as he returned the towel to Sari.
“Nothing important really. Food’s almost done,” Miko tossed over the back of the couch without looking. “You’re just in time for the party games.”
“Wow, aren’t you glad you didn’t miss those?” TJ drawled as he came over and tugged Blurr in for a hug before offering Starscream a hand to shake.
“What a relief,” Blurr said, deadpan. He tugged off his scarf and gloves, shoving one into the pocket of his coat and throwing the other into the pile of outerwear.
From across the room, Rathi noisily sucked in a breath. “Song Dae-Hyeun!” she near-shrieked and stomped his direction, pointing a shaking finger at him. “What in Primus’ name is that? Did you do this?” She whirled on TJ and socked him in the shoulder. “You know better than that.”
“Ow!” TJ hissed and slid away, rubbing his shoulder. “You hit like a damn heavyweight champion, Rathi. Don’t do that. And no, I didn’t do it.”
Blurr frowned. “Do what?” He couldn’t help it, he’d jumped when Rathi used his full name. It was an ingrained instinct at this point.
“This.” Rathi grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him toward a mirror hanging on the wall by the door. She pointed to his neck.
And the large red splotch of a hickey on the left side of his throat. It was dark and speckled, and Blurr suddenly remembered when Starscream had given it to him, and the way he’d gasped and bucked beneath the harpy, desire throbbing through his groin. Starscream’s teeth had scraped his skin as he’d growled in a low tone, before his mouth sealed over Blurr’s in a hungry kiss.
“This had better not belong to Josiah,” Rathi hissed, her eyes flashing with anger, though it wasn’t toward Blurr, but rather the memory of Josiah.
She’d not been fond of him either. Perhaps that should have been his first clue, that neither TJ nor Rathi had ever liked Josiah.
“Of course not.” Blurr slapped his hand over his neck, embarrassment turning his face a brilliant scarlet. He glanced into the mirror and caught Starscream’s gaze, the heat burning in his lover’s eyes.
“Really.” Rathi spun him back around, her hands on his shoulders, her face inches away. “I know it wasn’t me. TJ claims it wasn’t him.”
“It wasn’t! Just for the record,” TJ chimed in. He leaned nearby, hip cocked against the back of the coat-laden chair, his arms crossed. He looked worried.
“It wasn’t TJ, and it wasn’t Josiah,” Blurr said. He looked at the floor because he worried if he looked at Starscream, he would give himself away.
Rathi’s eyes widened. “Are you seeing someone?”
“Well, he obviously didn’t do that to himself,” TJ said with two raised eyebrows.
Blurr wondered if it was possible to die from embarrassment. His face was so red the blush had spread to his ears, he could feel the heat of it. “Yes, I am,” he said, and ducked out of Rathi’s grip to get some space. “And, no. I’m not telling you who it is. I’m not ready to announce it yet.”
“And why not?” Rathi asked, hands on her hips, like she’d transformed into his mother in the past few moments rather than his best friend and former lover, and dear Primus, Blurr wished he hadn’t just had that thought.
“Because I’m not,” Blurr ground out. He folded his arms and hunched his shoulders, but he couldn’t stop himself from glancing at Starscream. The damn harpy was all but preening, his lips spread in a wide, possessive grin, and a heat in his eyes that spoke of a promise for later.
A shiver spread heat up Blurr’s spine.
He chewed on his bottom lip and stared hard at the ground. “It’s new and I don’t want to ruin it by making a big deal out of it just yet,” he said.
You could have heard a pin drop, despite the crackle of the fake fire and the cheerful chirps of the holiday music floating tinny out of the kitchen.
“It’s someone special then,” Rathi said after a moment. She gave a long, decisive nod. “Good. That’s good, Dae. That’s all I want to hear.” She slid her arms over his shoulders, giving him a warm embrace. “You can tell me the juicy details later. When you’re ready.”
Can, she said, though there was always an implication of demand. And Blurr would, of course, tell both of them. When he was sure they’d understand, and he wouldn’t lose them because of it. He didn’t have many people in his life who meant something to him. He didn’t have his family anymore.
He didn’t want to lose TJ and Rathi.
“I will. Promise.”
“I know you do.” Rathi grinned and held his face, rising up to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Now. Let’s party. It’s a holiday!” She patted his cheeks and let him go before spinning around, flicking her long braid over her shoulder.
“I have plenty of egg nog!” Miko announced from the couch, and Rathi threw her legs over the side of the arms to join her.
“Starscream, come join us,” Rathi insisted, scooting herself and Miko over to make room on the couch. She patted the empty cushion. “I’m sure you know all about Dae’s new boyfriend, don’t you?”
Starscream caught Blurr’s gaze from across the room and winked. “I don’t know anything,” he declared as he moved to join the two women, sitting carefully as if worried the couch would not support his weight. “Except, of course, that he’s very charming, impossibly handsome, and extremely smart.”
“Blurr has the best taste,” Rathi said. “I find this very easy to believe.”
Starscream chuckled and pecked a kiss on Rathi’s cheek. “He chose you once, so I must agree.” He peered over her shoulder into her hand. “What are you drinking?”
“It’s egg nog. Spiked, too. Want to try it?” She offered it up.
Starscream gave it a tentative sniff, his nose wrinkling in the way Blurr always found adorable. “By spiked I gather you mean alcoholic.”
“Is there anything better?”
They shared a laugh.
“You know, you can move out of the doorway.” Blurr tore his gaze away from his former lover and his current lover as TJ approached, gently taking his elbow and pulling him from the door. His grip was as firm and careful as Rathi’s had been.
“Yeah, I know. It’s just… Rathi. She’s a whirlwind.” Blurr managed a laugh as TJ pulled him over near a set of glass double doors which led out to a small patio, currently being covered in a light dusting of snow.
They didn’t go outside. They just hovered in front of the doors, which were just reflective enough that their reflections stared back at them. In it, Blurr could also see Rathi and Starscream and Miko on the couch, animatedly chatting. Peripherally, he caught Sari stick her head out of what must have been the kitchen and shout for Miko’s help.
“She’s an unstoppable force,” TJ agreed. He gently bumped Blurr’s shoulder with his, and offered a gentle smile. “I’m happy for you, Blurr. You certainly look happy. I know that’s something we all want.”
He looked happy?
That was actually kind of nice to know.
“He’s amazing,” Blurr admitted, because it was killing him that he couldn’t talk about Starscream as freely as he wanted. “It’s… it’s complicated, otherwise I’d tell you both about it. But yeah, I’m happy. Right now, I’m happy.”
He realized, maybe a bit belatedly, that there was nothing about his statement he could call a lie. He was happy with Starscream, complications and all.
“Good.” TJ clapped a hand on Blurr’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Blurr smiled.
Honestly?
He was, too.
