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Starscream glowered as yet another human bumped into him, jostling him as he tried to walk down the street in his holo-form. He hated pretending to be something he wasn’t, all so he could walk alongside filthy organics unnoticed, but if these were to be his future slaves, then he might as well try to understand them and their motivations. Besides, knowledge of humankind might help Starscream control them later.
Still, Starscream detested how soft, fleshy, and vulnerable he felt in his holo-form. The technology to appear as a different being belonged to the superior Decepticon armada, and was something the Autobots didn’t know about. It helped Decepticons do what they were greatest at; deceiving their enemies.
Despite that, Starscream would have gladly traded holo-form technology for that of the Autobots’ space bridges; that would be of far more use to the Decepticon cause.
Travelling further into the city, Starscream smirked as he spotted his goal, or rather his date for the day. You stood in a crowded square, obviously looking for him, but evidently having no luck since you had never seen him in his holo-form before.
Starscream took a moment to admire you. You were the only organic who he could stand, and just the sight of you made his spark thrum loudly in his chassis. It was quite possible that you were the only good thing in Starscream’s life, though he would never admit it.
Starscream approached you from behind, speaking smugly into your ear, “You’d best leave the seeking to a Seeker.”
“Starscream!” You beamed, spinning around to face him, ecstatic that he had turned up to the date.
The last time you had asked him out had been disastrous. He had shown up in his robot mode and was attacked by Lockdown before the two of you could go anywhere; as an enemy of the Autobots, Decepticons, and most bounty hunters, Starscream couldn’t go anywhere unnoticed.
You threw your arms around him, embracing him in a hug, glad you could do so without the passers-by judging you for loving the Cybertronian who had attacked the city. Starscream smiled, hugging you back, glad for the display of affection.
“Yes, yes,” He agreed genially. “I am worthy of all your affections.”
“Damn right you are,” You grinned, pecking his cheek devilishly in a vain attempt to make him blush; unfortunately, Starscream remained arrogantly unfazed by the action, and you knew that you would have to try harder if you wished to succeed.
Starscream smirked then held his arm out for you to hold. He didn’t do so to be polite or gentlemanly, but rather to show you off to any people passing by; you were his bauble, pet, and plaything, and he wouldn’t allow anyone else the chance to flirt with you when you were by his side. The sad fact of the matter was that Starscream had very little that had ever been his, and although he held you with an air of confidence, he was secretly terrified that if someone else did show interest in you, you would leave him without a second thought.
“Lead the way,” Starscream commanded regally, using the authoritative tone to disguise the fact that he had no idea what organics did on dates.
“Glady,” You beamed, taking his arm, glad to be doing something normal for once.
When you had planned a date with Starscream, you had spent the week thinking up interesting places that you could show him, coming up with several ideas in the process. It had taken a lot of imagination on your behalf, considering that you couldn’t take Starscream to a dinner date because he didn’t eat, and having him stay while you ate would have been awkward.
You were also forced to avoid anywhere that the Autobots regularly frequented despite Starscream’s holo-form because he ‘refused to spend time where the trash went.’
While that did limit the places that you could take Starscream, you had still come up with a few ideas of where the two of you could go together. However, the one thing you hadn’t anticipated was how much of a brat Starscream could be.
It seemed that no matter what you suggested, Starscream either hated it, found it dull, or mocked insultingly.
The city was ‘too full of organics.’ The nature reserve was ‘boring and too muddy,’ and when you took Starscream to the carnival and suggested a ride on the Ferris wheel, he scoffed at you, claiming that if he wanted to see the sky, he would fly there himself.
Finally, you had had enough of Starscream’s terrible behaviour, and you stopped in front of him, ignoring the people who had to walk around you on the boardwalk.
Starscream stared at you bemused, rolling his eyes.
“What now?” He asked scathingly, incensing you further.
“Say something nice about tonight!” You demanded.
“What? Why?” Starscream sneered, completely baffled that you would need his validation all of a sudden.
“Say something nice, or I walk and you never see me again.”
“What are you talking about? You wouldn’t leave me,” Starscream tried to keep his tone even, but a slight note of fear and insecurity threatened him all the same.
“Are you kidding me?” You asked, throwing your hands up in the air frustratedly. “I thought this was going to be fun, like it always is when we’re together, but all you’ve done is whine about everything we’ve tried. What will be good enough for you?”
“I- I thought we were having fun. We always mock what’s going on around us. You never minded before.”
“Because you weren’t making fun of me before. I just wanted one normal date, was that too much to ask?”
You looked at Starscream, silently pleading for him to understand. He looked down to the floor awkwardly, unable to meet your gaze when he responded.
“(Y/N), I’m sorry if this hasn’t been fun for you. The truth is… I don’t really how to act on a date. It’s been so long and I- I thought that making fun of everything would be easier, but if you want to hear something nice about tonight…” He paused, looking you in the eye with a vulnerability you hadn’t seen from him before, “I loved every second I spent by your side.”
You let out a contented breath, glad that Starscream had been sincere for once. You were about to say as much when Starscream leered at you with a cheeky grin.
“Do I get a kiss now?” He smiled crookedly.
You shook your head, frankly astonished by how quickly Starscream’s moods could change.
“Sure,” You conceded, and no sooner had you said it, Starscream’s mouth was on yours, hungry for the taste of you.
You wrapped your arms around Starscream’s neck, pulling him closer.
Life with him was never going to be easy, but it was better than any other life you could imagine.