[TF] Family Found 07/10
Apr. 27th, 2020 06:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracoqueen22Universe: Transformers, Escort AU, All This and Heaven Too
Characters: Sunstreaker/Starscream, Rodimus, Sideswipe, Wrench
Rated: M
Warnings: lost siblings, reunited family, hard choices, angst, bdsm themes, humiliation kink slightly
Description: Sunstreaker didn’t understand why he felt so drawn to Sideswipe, until a mistake revealed the link between them, provoking a turn of events which will change everything.
Family Found
Part Seven
Their room was clean.
Sunstreaker couldn't determine why, but this bothered him. Starscream's belongings were neatly organized and in their proper place. The laundry was in the bin. Datapads were on shelves. Polishing supplies were arranged neatly in their drawers.
Starscream had been picking up after himself.
Sunstreaker didn't like it.
Their room was oddly quiet, too far removed from the selling floor to catch echoes of the music constantly playing, the only noise was the barely audible hum of the lights and the electronics. The windows were too thick to carry the background noise of the outside world. Starscream hadn't left the radio on, like he was prone to do.
Sunstreaker flicked it on, spinning the dial until he found a station that wouldn't grate on his audials. Something without words, a gentle melody to soothe the spark.
It didn't help.
He checked his chronometer. It was nearing the closing time for the sales floor. If Starscream hadn't taken a client -- unlikely -- he'd return any moment now. If he decided to return here. He might go to Rodimus. That seemed to be his preference as of late.
Long nights with clients. Some nights with Rodimus. Few nights with Sunstreaker.
There was a miles wide gulf between them, and Sunstreaker only had himself to blame. Ever since Turmoil, well.
He'd fragged up. He knew he did. He'd long since come to terms with his own mortality and impending death, but the idea of Starscream hurt? It was anathema. He couldn't bear it.
Sunstreaker paced. He couldn't focus to read. His hands trembled too much to tend to his armor. He contemplated the info chip Sideswipe had given him, and resisted the urge to call him. His brother. His twin.
The door clicked open, Starscream coming inside slowly, like he was trying to creep in without waking Sunstreaker, until he realized the room was brightly lit. Only then did he straighten, shoulders back, wings arched, tensed as though he expected a fight.
Sunstreaker was tired of fighting.
"No client?" he asked.
"I Promoted instead," Starscream said, which was unusual for the Seeker. Promoters were paid a base fee, and their sole purpose was to sell the other escorts to the Patrons. It was usually a job for those who no longer wished to serve, or for those who were better at selling than performing.
Promoting paid nothing compared to what Starscream could earn from a single patron.
"Sell anyone good?" Sunstreaker asked.
Starscream snorted, but offered a smirk. "Got Misfire a high-paying client. I think Fulcrum finally found what he was looking for."
His Seeker always did have a knack for knowing exactly what the patrons wanted, even if they weren't sure themselves.
"Good. It's about time," Sunstreaker said.
There was a huge gulf between them. He had to cross it without devolving into a fight. No matter what else, Starscream was his friend. Sunstreaker didn't want to lose that.
"Can we talk?" Sunstreaker asked.
Starscream sighed and sat on the edge of his berth. "I suppose there's no avoiding it." He crossed his arms, his armor taut, his field withdrawn. "When are you leaving?"
Sunstreaker frowned, and almost rose to the bait. "I'm not sure I am," he said. He sat on his own berth, the open floor of their shared space between them, and felt that distance keenly.
"Why not? He's your brother, your family. He can take care of you way better than this dump?" Starscream made a sharp gesture to the whole of Blue Sun. "Why would you want to stay here?"
"You know why," Sunstreaker said with a tightness building in his chassis. "We don't talk about it, but we both know it."
Starscream grinned, and there was nothing friendly about it. "What? Me? Oh, don't worry about me." He waved one hand. "It's been crazy or I would have told you sooner, but it turns out, I have an offer, too."
Sunstreaker stilled. "An offer? Who?"
"Nightshade." Starscream unfolded his arms, bracing them on the edge of his berth. "He wants to sponsor me, and from what I can tell, it's a very generous offer. I wouldn't need to work here at all anymore, though I could still take clients if I wanted."
"You're leaving?"
Starscream shrugged and looked toward the window, his wings drifting down. "I was thinking about it. It's not like I want to stay here forever, and when you leave with Sideswipe, that means I'm free to go, too. So I'll be fine. Don't you worry about me."
Sunstreaker's vents stuttered. The pressure in his chassis grew and grew, until it felt harder to ventilate.
"It's almost fate, isn't it?" Starscream murmured. "Yesterday Nightshade offered to sponsor me, and today Sideswipe comes for you. It's like Primus is telling us what we have to do."
"You can't believe that."
"Well, no, not really. I don't hold any stock in Primus." Starscream finally looked at him, his face unreadable, his optics a mask hiding every emotion. "But it works out anyway. Family should be together."
Sunstreaker swallowed over a lump in his intake. "I can't tell what you want more, for me to go, or for you to leave. Either way, it sounds like you don't want to be with me."
"We're friends, Sunny. It's not like I'll never see you again. We'll still live in the same city." Starscream smile was flat and bland and everything Sunstreaker had seen him offer a client. He'd never been on the receiving end of it before.
He hated it.
"Streamline will be happy to be rid of me anyway. I'm too much trouble, and he has Misfire now. Win-win, if you ask me, though he won't be happy to see you go," Starscream continued, nattering on in the background, his voice fading away.
Heat crawled under Sunstreaker's armor. His world narrowed to a fine point, gray fading in on the edges. His spark felt like it was going to shrink to nothingness as Starscream reasoned away their years upon years of a friendship.
Was he the only one then? Had it only ever been convenient for Starscream? Why was it so easy for him to walk away?
And for Nightshade? The mech who had no problem putting them in harms way to ensure Turmoil's arrest?
Sunstreaker stood, vents sharp, thoughts spinning. “You really want me to go?” he demanded, interrupting Starscream in the midst of extolling the many reasons both of them should put Blue Sun in their rearview mirror.
“I want you to be happy,” Starscream said, but his armor drew so tight he must have been on the verge of overheating, and he gave Sunstreaker a cautious look. “You’re not going to find that here, so if you think that means I want you to leave, then that must be what I mean.”
Sunstreaker’s engine revved. “You’re an idiot,” he snapped, the tight band of emotion in his chassis snapping at once. “I’m happy with you. As long as you’re in my life, I’m happy, but I must be the only one who feels that way.”
He spun on a heel and made a break for the door, everything exploding inside of him, his audials crackling, his face burning, his optics overheating. If Starscream called for him, he didn’t hear it, and he wouldn’t have listened anyway.
He needed to go. Away. Somewhere else.
He didn’t have a clue where.
The door closed behind him. He stood in the dim hallway, struggling to ventilate, the lateness of the evening granting him empty corridors and no witnesses.
He had nowhere to go. He wasn’t like Starscream. He couldn’t barge into Rodimus’ dorm and demand a place in Rodimus’ bed. He had no other friends. He wouldn’t return to Wrench.
This room was the only place he had ever considered a solace. Starscream was the only mech he called for comfort.
Sunstreaker went to the prep room. This time of the evening, it was deserted. There were no escorts painting themselves for prospective clients. Most of the lights were off. The cleaning crew had already been through, tidying after the often messy escorts.
He slumped into the vanity he’d claimed for himself long ago. Everyone knew better than to use it, even on days when he wasn’t on the sales floor or available to customers. No one touched his things.
Well.
No one but Starscream.
Sunstreaker rubbed his face, the silence of the prep room wrapping around him. He heard a thin whine and realized too late it was his own engines, the labors of his vents, the chaos of his thoughts and his emotions.
He looked pale in the mirror, his armor in desperate need of a polish. But, for once, he didn’t feel weak and ready to collapse. His spark spun on, stronger than ever, and he had Sideswipe to thank.
Sideswipe.
Sunstreaker slipped the datachip out again, turning it over in his fingers. He wasn’t alone after all, was he?
He dialed the comm.
Sideswipe picked up within the first few seconds. “Sunstreaker!” His greeting was warm and enthused, and immediately, a wave of calm swept through Sunstreaker, the first volley against the raging tide of emotion. “That was a little quick. Is everything okay?”
Sunstreaker stared at himself in the mirror. He couldn’t see Sideswipe in him, but then, they’d had vastly different re-frames, hadn’t they? “I need to know,” he said. “What does this mean?”
"You'll have to be a bit more specific," Sideswipe said, and in the background there was a murmur of noise before it was silenced.
Sunstreaker stared at himself in the mirror, his intake feeling tight. "If I don't go with you, or if I do or..."
"Take a deep vent, okay," Sideswipe said, cutting him off, but at least he was gentle about it. "Listen. Nothing has to change if you don't want it to." He paused and chuckled softly, "Okay, I'm fibbing a little. One thing is going to change. My lawyers are looking into it now, but as far as I'm concerned, half my creds belong to you, so you'll be getting what's yours no matter what."
Sunstreaker blinked. "Are you serious?"
"Whatever happened to separate us, it's not your fault," Sideswipe said, and it was hard to deny the sincerity in his voice. "Half of this is meant to be yours. Frag, according to my medic, you're probably older than me, so technically, you should be in charge here. Though I don't think you want that."
"No, I don't," Sunstreaker said. His processor spun in a thousand directions. Sideswipe wanted to share his fortune? Sideswipe wanted to claim him as brother in the optics of the law?
It was unbelievable.
"Exactly!" Sideswipe sounded thrilled. "So whatever you decide you're going to have more creds than you know what to do with. You'll be able to do whatever you want!"
Sunstreaker shook his head, though Sideswipe couldn't see it. "That's generous of you. I feel like I should be suspicious."
Sideswipe chuckled as though he didn't take any offense. "I mean, I understand why you would be. I admit, I'm kind of hoping you want to come live with me, because I want to get to know you, but I'd understand if you chose otherwise."
"Without strings?"
"You can hire whatever lawyer you want to look over the legalities of it when the time comes. I promise, it's yours." Sideswipe hummed thoughtfully. "Truth is, you could write me off and sue me for this if you wanted. I'm just saving both of us some creds and cheating the courts out of their cut. Besides, it's the right thing to do."
Cunning and ruthless. Sunstreaker liked this side of Sideswipe. Clearly, his wealth wasn't only inherited. He must be rather shrewd to keep his creds and expand them.
"I don't want to write you off," Sunstreaker murmured. This much he knew. He did want to get to know Sideswipe.
It was the rest which confused him.
"I'm hearing hesitation," Sideswipe prompted.
Sunstreaker sighed. "It's complicated." He rubbed a hand down his face, a new ache building in his temples.
At the very least, he trusted Sideswipe. He was sure whatever he decided, he would be taken care of. He couldn’t explain why. He just knew.
"Uh huh. It's Starscream, isn't it?"
Primus, did everyone know? Were they that obvious? Sunstreaker pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again, a rattling sound, betraying the distress in his vents.
"I thought so," he admitted. "But now I'm not so sure. Maybe there's no reason for me to hesitate."
"Do you love him?" Sideswipe asked.
"Yes." It was too easy to admit it. To Rodimus, Sunstreaker would lie. To Wrench, he'd obfuscate. To Starscream, he'd redirect.
To Sideswipe, the truth spilled out of him without a second thought. Was this what it meant to have a twin? Sunstreaker was desperate to find out more. This feeling of not being alone, he wanted to hold onto it for as long as he could. It was different than wanting to be with Starscream. Not bad different or good different, just different.
"Then tell him," Sideswipe said, his voice absurdly gentle, though Sunstreaker didn't feel condescended to. "Be sure. I'm not going anywhere."
He was right.
If Sunstreaker walked away without saying anything, without even asking, he'd constantly be left wondering 'what if?' If he was leaving, what did it matter if he broke his spark on the way out, at least he wouldn't have to look into the face of the one who'd done it.
He ventilated quietly. "Are you sure I'm the older one? Because it sounds like you're the one who's wise."
Sideswipe laughed. "I have all the best therapy creds can buy, Sunny. I've picked up a few things here and there."
Sunstreaker managed a small laugh. "Well, it's obviously helping." He paused, a warmth bubbling in his spark to ease the chill. "Um, thanks, Sideswipe. It's kind of nice having a brother."
"And you can have me all you want when you move in," Sideswipe said, his vocals singsong and teasing. "Or you can call me anytime. I mean that, too. Even if it's just to talk about, I dunno, the newest episode of The Fierce and the Passionate."
"You watch that garbage?" Sunstreaker asked.
"Don't you?"
"That's not the point," Sunstreaker spluttered. "It's the only thing on during the day and I was stuck recuperating a lot because of this stupid spark of mine."
Sideswipe laughed. "And the fact you're probably a closet romantic has nothing to do with it, huh?"
"Shut up." Sunstreaker's face burned. He felt called out, even if Sideswipe had admitted he watched it, too.
"No. Tell me more," Sideswipe said. "What else do you like to do?"
Sunstreaker settled into the chair, getting comfortable. He did need to talk to Starscream again. Maybe for the last time. And he absolutely would.
But for now, he could get to know his brother.
***
Characters: Sunstreaker/Starscream, Rodimus, Sideswipe, Wrench
Rated: M
Warnings: lost siblings, reunited family, hard choices, angst, bdsm themes, humiliation kink slightly
Description: Sunstreaker didn’t understand why he felt so drawn to Sideswipe, until a mistake revealed the link between them, provoking a turn of events which will change everything.
Part Seven
Their room was clean.
Sunstreaker couldn't determine why, but this bothered him. Starscream's belongings were neatly organized and in their proper place. The laundry was in the bin. Datapads were on shelves. Polishing supplies were arranged neatly in their drawers.
Starscream had been picking up after himself.
Sunstreaker didn't like it.
Their room was oddly quiet, too far removed from the selling floor to catch echoes of the music constantly playing, the only noise was the barely audible hum of the lights and the electronics. The windows were too thick to carry the background noise of the outside world. Starscream hadn't left the radio on, like he was prone to do.
Sunstreaker flicked it on, spinning the dial until he found a station that wouldn't grate on his audials. Something without words, a gentle melody to soothe the spark.
It didn't help.
He checked his chronometer. It was nearing the closing time for the sales floor. If Starscream hadn't taken a client -- unlikely -- he'd return any moment now. If he decided to return here. He might go to Rodimus. That seemed to be his preference as of late.
Long nights with clients. Some nights with Rodimus. Few nights with Sunstreaker.
There was a miles wide gulf between them, and Sunstreaker only had himself to blame. Ever since Turmoil, well.
He'd fragged up. He knew he did. He'd long since come to terms with his own mortality and impending death, but the idea of Starscream hurt? It was anathema. He couldn't bear it.
Sunstreaker paced. He couldn't focus to read. His hands trembled too much to tend to his armor. He contemplated the info chip Sideswipe had given him, and resisted the urge to call him. His brother. His twin.
The door clicked open, Starscream coming inside slowly, like he was trying to creep in without waking Sunstreaker, until he realized the room was brightly lit. Only then did he straighten, shoulders back, wings arched, tensed as though he expected a fight.
Sunstreaker was tired of fighting.
"No client?" he asked.
"I Promoted instead," Starscream said, which was unusual for the Seeker. Promoters were paid a base fee, and their sole purpose was to sell the other escorts to the Patrons. It was usually a job for those who no longer wished to serve, or for those who were better at selling than performing.
Promoting paid nothing compared to what Starscream could earn from a single patron.
"Sell anyone good?" Sunstreaker asked.
Starscream snorted, but offered a smirk. "Got Misfire a high-paying client. I think Fulcrum finally found what he was looking for."
His Seeker always did have a knack for knowing exactly what the patrons wanted, even if they weren't sure themselves.
"Good. It's about time," Sunstreaker said.
There was a huge gulf between them. He had to cross it without devolving into a fight. No matter what else, Starscream was his friend. Sunstreaker didn't want to lose that.
"Can we talk?" Sunstreaker asked.
Starscream sighed and sat on the edge of his berth. "I suppose there's no avoiding it." He crossed his arms, his armor taut, his field withdrawn. "When are you leaving?"
Sunstreaker frowned, and almost rose to the bait. "I'm not sure I am," he said. He sat on his own berth, the open floor of their shared space between them, and felt that distance keenly.
"Why not? He's your brother, your family. He can take care of you way better than this dump?" Starscream made a sharp gesture to the whole of Blue Sun. "Why would you want to stay here?"
"You know why," Sunstreaker said with a tightness building in his chassis. "We don't talk about it, but we both know it."
Starscream grinned, and there was nothing friendly about it. "What? Me? Oh, don't worry about me." He waved one hand. "It's been crazy or I would have told you sooner, but it turns out, I have an offer, too."
Sunstreaker stilled. "An offer? Who?"
"Nightshade." Starscream unfolded his arms, bracing them on the edge of his berth. "He wants to sponsor me, and from what I can tell, it's a very generous offer. I wouldn't need to work here at all anymore, though I could still take clients if I wanted."
"You're leaving?"
Starscream shrugged and looked toward the window, his wings drifting down. "I was thinking about it. It's not like I want to stay here forever, and when you leave with Sideswipe, that means I'm free to go, too. So I'll be fine. Don't you worry about me."
Sunstreaker's vents stuttered. The pressure in his chassis grew and grew, until it felt harder to ventilate.
"It's almost fate, isn't it?" Starscream murmured. "Yesterday Nightshade offered to sponsor me, and today Sideswipe comes for you. It's like Primus is telling us what we have to do."
"You can't believe that."
"Well, no, not really. I don't hold any stock in Primus." Starscream finally looked at him, his face unreadable, his optics a mask hiding every emotion. "But it works out anyway. Family should be together."
Sunstreaker swallowed over a lump in his intake. "I can't tell what you want more, for me to go, or for you to leave. Either way, it sounds like you don't want to be with me."
"We're friends, Sunny. It's not like I'll never see you again. We'll still live in the same city." Starscream smile was flat and bland and everything Sunstreaker had seen him offer a client. He'd never been on the receiving end of it before.
He hated it.
"Streamline will be happy to be rid of me anyway. I'm too much trouble, and he has Misfire now. Win-win, if you ask me, though he won't be happy to see you go," Starscream continued, nattering on in the background, his voice fading away.
Heat crawled under Sunstreaker's armor. His world narrowed to a fine point, gray fading in on the edges. His spark felt like it was going to shrink to nothingness as Starscream reasoned away their years upon years of a friendship.
Was he the only one then? Had it only ever been convenient for Starscream? Why was it so easy for him to walk away?
And for Nightshade? The mech who had no problem putting them in harms way to ensure Turmoil's arrest?
Sunstreaker stood, vents sharp, thoughts spinning. “You really want me to go?” he demanded, interrupting Starscream in the midst of extolling the many reasons both of them should put Blue Sun in their rearview mirror.
“I want you to be happy,” Starscream said, but his armor drew so tight he must have been on the verge of overheating, and he gave Sunstreaker a cautious look. “You’re not going to find that here, so if you think that means I want you to leave, then that must be what I mean.”
Sunstreaker’s engine revved. “You’re an idiot,” he snapped, the tight band of emotion in his chassis snapping at once. “I’m happy with you. As long as you’re in my life, I’m happy, but I must be the only one who feels that way.”
He spun on a heel and made a break for the door, everything exploding inside of him, his audials crackling, his face burning, his optics overheating. If Starscream called for him, he didn’t hear it, and he wouldn’t have listened anyway.
He needed to go. Away. Somewhere else.
He didn’t have a clue where.
The door closed behind him. He stood in the dim hallway, struggling to ventilate, the lateness of the evening granting him empty corridors and no witnesses.
He had nowhere to go. He wasn’t like Starscream. He couldn’t barge into Rodimus’ dorm and demand a place in Rodimus’ bed. He had no other friends. He wouldn’t return to Wrench.
This room was the only place he had ever considered a solace. Starscream was the only mech he called for comfort.
Sunstreaker went to the prep room. This time of the evening, it was deserted. There were no escorts painting themselves for prospective clients. Most of the lights were off. The cleaning crew had already been through, tidying after the often messy escorts.
He slumped into the vanity he’d claimed for himself long ago. Everyone knew better than to use it, even on days when he wasn’t on the sales floor or available to customers. No one touched his things.
Well.
No one but Starscream.
Sunstreaker rubbed his face, the silence of the prep room wrapping around him. He heard a thin whine and realized too late it was his own engines, the labors of his vents, the chaos of his thoughts and his emotions.
He looked pale in the mirror, his armor in desperate need of a polish. But, for once, he didn’t feel weak and ready to collapse. His spark spun on, stronger than ever, and he had Sideswipe to thank.
Sideswipe.
Sunstreaker slipped the datachip out again, turning it over in his fingers. He wasn’t alone after all, was he?
He dialed the comm.
Sideswipe picked up within the first few seconds. “Sunstreaker!” His greeting was warm and enthused, and immediately, a wave of calm swept through Sunstreaker, the first volley against the raging tide of emotion. “That was a little quick. Is everything okay?”
Sunstreaker stared at himself in the mirror. He couldn’t see Sideswipe in him, but then, they’d had vastly different re-frames, hadn’t they? “I need to know,” he said. “What does this mean?”
"You'll have to be a bit more specific," Sideswipe said, and in the background there was a murmur of noise before it was silenced.
Sunstreaker stared at himself in the mirror, his intake feeling tight. "If I don't go with you, or if I do or..."
"Take a deep vent, okay," Sideswipe said, cutting him off, but at least he was gentle about it. "Listen. Nothing has to change if you don't want it to." He paused and chuckled softly, "Okay, I'm fibbing a little. One thing is going to change. My lawyers are looking into it now, but as far as I'm concerned, half my creds belong to you, so you'll be getting what's yours no matter what."
Sunstreaker blinked. "Are you serious?"
"Whatever happened to separate us, it's not your fault," Sideswipe said, and it was hard to deny the sincerity in his voice. "Half of this is meant to be yours. Frag, according to my medic, you're probably older than me, so technically, you should be in charge here. Though I don't think you want that."
"No, I don't," Sunstreaker said. His processor spun in a thousand directions. Sideswipe wanted to share his fortune? Sideswipe wanted to claim him as brother in the optics of the law?
It was unbelievable.
"Exactly!" Sideswipe sounded thrilled. "So whatever you decide you're going to have more creds than you know what to do with. You'll be able to do whatever you want!"
Sunstreaker shook his head, though Sideswipe couldn't see it. "That's generous of you. I feel like I should be suspicious."
Sideswipe chuckled as though he didn't take any offense. "I mean, I understand why you would be. I admit, I'm kind of hoping you want to come live with me, because I want to get to know you, but I'd understand if you chose otherwise."
"Without strings?"
"You can hire whatever lawyer you want to look over the legalities of it when the time comes. I promise, it's yours." Sideswipe hummed thoughtfully. "Truth is, you could write me off and sue me for this if you wanted. I'm just saving both of us some creds and cheating the courts out of their cut. Besides, it's the right thing to do."
Cunning and ruthless. Sunstreaker liked this side of Sideswipe. Clearly, his wealth wasn't only inherited. He must be rather shrewd to keep his creds and expand them.
"I don't want to write you off," Sunstreaker murmured. This much he knew. He did want to get to know Sideswipe.
It was the rest which confused him.
"I'm hearing hesitation," Sideswipe prompted.
Sunstreaker sighed. "It's complicated." He rubbed a hand down his face, a new ache building in his temples.
At the very least, he trusted Sideswipe. He was sure whatever he decided, he would be taken care of. He couldn’t explain why. He just knew.
"Uh huh. It's Starscream, isn't it?"
Primus, did everyone know? Were they that obvious? Sunstreaker pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again, a rattling sound, betraying the distress in his vents.
"I thought so," he admitted. "But now I'm not so sure. Maybe there's no reason for me to hesitate."
"Do you love him?" Sideswipe asked.
"Yes." It was too easy to admit it. To Rodimus, Sunstreaker would lie. To Wrench, he'd obfuscate. To Starscream, he'd redirect.
To Sideswipe, the truth spilled out of him without a second thought. Was this what it meant to have a twin? Sunstreaker was desperate to find out more. This feeling of not being alone, he wanted to hold onto it for as long as he could. It was different than wanting to be with Starscream. Not bad different or good different, just different.
"Then tell him," Sideswipe said, his voice absurdly gentle, though Sunstreaker didn't feel condescended to. "Be sure. I'm not going anywhere."
He was right.
If Sunstreaker walked away without saying anything, without even asking, he'd constantly be left wondering 'what if?' If he was leaving, what did it matter if he broke his spark on the way out, at least he wouldn't have to look into the face of the one who'd done it.
He ventilated quietly. "Are you sure I'm the older one? Because it sounds like you're the one who's wise."
Sideswipe laughed. "I have all the best therapy creds can buy, Sunny. I've picked up a few things here and there."
Sunstreaker managed a small laugh. "Well, it's obviously helping." He paused, a warmth bubbling in his spark to ease the chill. "Um, thanks, Sideswipe. It's kind of nice having a brother."
"And you can have me all you want when you move in," Sideswipe said, his vocals singsong and teasing. "Or you can call me anytime. I mean that, too. Even if it's just to talk about, I dunno, the newest episode of The Fierce and the Passionate."
"You watch that garbage?" Sunstreaker asked.
"Don't you?"
"That's not the point," Sunstreaker spluttered. "It's the only thing on during the day and I was stuck recuperating a lot because of this stupid spark of mine."
Sideswipe laughed. "And the fact you're probably a closet romantic has nothing to do with it, huh?"
"Shut up." Sunstreaker's face burned. He felt called out, even if Sideswipe had admitted he watched it, too.
"No. Tell me more," Sideswipe said. "What else do you like to do?"
Sunstreaker settled into the chair, getting comfortable. He did need to talk to Starscream again. Maybe for the last time. And he absolutely would.
But for now, he could get to know his brother.
