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Skyfire jogged through the small town, trying to get the thoughts of Starscream out of his mind. The scientist had appeared out of nowhere one day, and started a fight with Megatron. Starscream had yelled about how the land wasn’t cleared for residential building, and all that. Megatron told him to leave, but Starscream stayed anyway. He was living in a cabin, deep in the woods, focusing on soil samples and testing the water from the lake. Everyone was wary of Starscream, no one knew what he was.
He got to know who Starscream was, he was a brilliant man. Someone with a prickly exterior but a sweet interior once you got to know him. He cared about the environment, and wanted to keep the forest safe for all who visit it. But, Starscream was human, and Skyfire had made a terrible mistake.
A few days ago, the scientist had invited him to stay at his cabin and watch some movies. Out of excitement, Skyfire had said yes. They had stayed up late and Starscream wanted him to stay over. Part of his mind had told him to go, to tell Star that he couldn't stay the night. But another part of him said to stay, to spend more time with Starscream. So he stayed, and he kissed Starscream. It was sweet, and soft. The problem came the morning after, with his transformation problem. Sometimes he turned into his owl form as he slept, and in the morning Starscream freaked out as he saw the giant snowy owl in his bed. Skyfire couldn’t blame the scientist for freaking out, but now he hadn’t seen Starscream for a few days. He'd done his best to avoid him. His heart ached, and his mind raced. He missed Starscream, but he feared that he doomed the town.
As Skyfire came up to his house, Starscream was standing in front of it. The scientist was holding a bag and a drink carrier holding two cups. Skyfire could recognize the logo, it was from a large coffee shop from the nearby city.
“Starscream?” Skyfire asked as his heart fluttered.
Starscream turned around and said, “Sky, I… I’m so sorry! I overreacted. Can… Can we talk?”
“Yes.. It would be nice … to talk,” Skyfire said. For a minute, the two stood in silence, “Oh! Let me get the door!” After a bit of awkward shuffling, Skyfire opened the door and the two went inside.
Starscream fiddled with the coffee cups and cupcakes on the table, trying to find the perfect placement for all of them. He had cheese danishes in the oven warming up, just in case Skyfire didn’t like the cupcakes. Currently the taller man was in the shower, cleaning up after his jog. Though that only made the scientist’s stomach continue to flip. Had he been too insistent on Skyfire staying? Did Skyfire not like his kiss? There were a thousand thoughts going through his mind. Then of course, there was the weird dream where Skyfire had turned into a large owl.
The timer went off, pulling Starscream out of his thoughts. As he took the danishes out of the oven, Skyfire entered the kitchen.
“Everything… looks great,” Skyfire said, “smells good too.”
“Thanks,” Starscream said, using a spatula to put the two danishes on different plates and sat down. “I.. I want to apologize. I shouldn’t have pressured you into staying. It was late, and there were rumors that hunters had placed bear traps in the woods. I didn’t want you to get hurt.” Skyfire had paused, and looked at Starscream. The scientist gulped, and then continued to talk, “I… I liked the kiss, I’m… I’m sorry if I-”
“I liked the kiss too,” Skyfire said, “and I wasn’t staying away from you because of insisting that I stayed.” Starscream froze, trying to think of why Skyfire would want to stay away from him. Skyfire took a deep breath and held out his arm, and feathers started to grow out of it, “that’s why I’ve been staying away.”
Starscream couldn’t bring himself to say anything, all this time he thought that it was his fault that Skyfire didn’t want him around. The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Starscream spoke. “You actually turned into an owl… I thought it was some sort of dream. I’ve… I’ve got so many questions.”
“I’ll do my best to answer,” Skyfire said, “but I request that you don’t tell anyone about it, or the town. Everyone here, we can all turn into different animals. Megatron turns into a giant wolf.”
Starscream stalled for a moment, before yelling, “Megatron can turn into a giant wolf?” All the times he sassed the mayor came rushing into his mind. He could have died.
“He does his best to keep everyone safe,” Skyfire said as he bit into a cupcake. The larger man made a face. “This is… very sweet.”
“I could have died,” Starscream muttered, “he could have turned into a wolf and-” Starscream was cut off as the doorbell continually rang. Skyfire and Starscream looked at each other, and Skyfire went up to answer the door. As Sky answered, five pairs of eyes looked up at him.
“Hello kids,” Skyfire said, “can I help you with anything?”
“You have cupcakes,” Arcee said bluntly. Skyfire gulped and looked around. Before he could say anything, Rodimus bolted into the house. The others ran in after him, and all Starscream and Skyfire could do was watch the kids go for the cupcakes on the table.
“Hold it!” Starscream yelled, and the five kids looked at him.
“Why is the weird dirt guy in your house?” Sprinnger asked.
“I am an environmental scientist!” Starscream said.
“Why are you in Skyfire’s house?” Arcee asked.
“What are you doing?” Cyclonus asked.
“Dad’s not going to be happy,” Galvatron said.
“Can I have a cupcake?” Rodimus asked, trying to climb up on the table. Starscream looked at Skyfire who just shrugged.
“Fine,” Starscream said, handing the plastic box to Rodimus.
“Thanks!” Rodimus yelled and ran out of Skyfire’s house. The other kids forgot their questions and ran after him.
“Are we going to get into trouble?” Starscream asked.
“No,” Skyfire said, “the kids will forget about it once the cupcakes are gone.”
“Can they-” Starscream started to ask.
“Yep,” Skyfire said as he walked back to the kitchen and sat across Starscream, “and so can everyone living in town.” Starscream pushed one of the cheese danishes towards Skyfire. The larger man cut a bite off, and smiled, “this is pretty good!”
“I’m glad you like it,” Starscream said. For a few minutes the two ate in silence. Starscream looked at Skyfire and said, “I still have a million questions.”
“I’ll do my best to answer all of them,” Skyfire said. Starscream smiled, his heart fluttering as he looked at Skyfire.