Chapter Text
There was a small twitch of movement out of the corner of his optic, and Megatron lost all concentration on his work. The control room was empty besides himself and Starscream, who had tucked himself into a corner of panels to work on the wiring. They had an encounter with the Ark and chased it until both ships ran into an asteroid field. It was too dense and the Nemesis was critically hit, allowing the Autobots an escape, for now. Now they were just floating in space with no power as they completed repairs. Having the main room to themselves was rare, and Megatron had planned to work in the needed silence.
He watched as Starscream shifted to move further into the disorganized mess of cords to reach something, and the movement happened again, close to his wings. He heard rumors back in Kaon that seeker wings moved, but had never seen it himself. Starscream had his back to him as he dug further into the wall of wires, giving Megatron a full view of the strong broad wings. The flier was used to the stares by now but could sense an odd shift of why Megatron was staring this time.
“What,” Starscream snapped, turning just slightly to stare back, wings shifting with him, “do you want.”
“Your wings,” Megatron didn’t get to finish.
“What about them?” Starscream demanded.
“Do they move?” Megatron finished. There was a beat of silence and Starscream turned further, confused and agitated rolled into one.
“What?”
“Do they move?” Megatron repeated, “I saw them move.”
Starscream opened his mouth to retort something but closed it into a thin line, thinking over his words carefully. Megatron was about to ask again when he heard a faint hiss and pop. The wings behind Starscream’s back shifted downward and allowed Starscream to move out of his work and stand straight up to face the leader. It made Megatron slightly uneasy to see a lack of wings behind the seeker’s back but soon enough they were popping back up and locking into place with a click.
Starscream stared, waiting for a reply. Megatron took a step forward and the flier quickly skidded back into the corner, null ray raised and charged.
“Don’t even think about touching them,” Starscream sneered, optics narrowing and glancing around rapidly. If he was looking for a way out, there was none. He had panels of wires on either side of him and Megatron in front.
“You didn’t seem to care the last time I grabbed them,” Megatron said, referring to the recent event of him pulling Starscream off Blitzwing before the seeker did too much damage to the triple-changer. Starscream scoffed but wasn’t lowering his weapon, eyeing Megatron suspiciously when the much larger mech made no more moves to get closer.
“They’re sensitive. The only reason I keep letting you mishandle them is that the pain receptors get disabled when locked,” Starscream explained, shrinking when Megatron did take a step.
“Why keep them locked in place?” Megatron asked, genuine curiosity in his voice. It didn’t stop Starscream’s paranoia.
“Because then they become targets,” Starscream snapped, “Enemies used to aim at them knowing how vital they were. Lock them in place and they become a piece of metal that helps us fly. Do it long enough and it becomes a myth that they ever moved.”
Megatron didn’t register how close he had gotten to the seeker until the null ray was tapping right on his chassis. It had been turned off, no longer posing a threat. Starscream scoffed, “You still can’t touch them.”
Megatron frowned, taking a step back. There was a long silence as Starscream struggled to find better footing with all the wires around him.
Starscream sighed, and shoved the null ray into Megatron, “Move, now.”
Megatron took a few more steps back and Starscream stood at his full height again in front of him, null ray moving away so he could cross his arms. The pop and hiss occurred, and the wings were gently beginning to move in time with Starscream’s fidgeting.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” Megatron echoed.
“I am graciously allowing you a tick to touch them to ease your curiosity. Then they’re locking for good,” Starscream spoke as if it was some high honor.
He didn’t need to be told twice, and Megatron cautiously raised one servo to the edge of the left wing. When Megatron had grabbed the wing in the past it felt lifeless, but now he could feel every twitch and flick as he ran his servo across the full span. It was entrancing. Starscream just stared at him, optics widening and unmoving. The silence no longer felt tense but was shifting into something Megatron couldn’t place.
“Why do they move?” The quietness in his voice startled him, and the seeker blinked out of his dazed state.
“They were the main source of our communication,” Starscream answered, voice soft and the normal scratchiness nearly invisible, “Do you understand how long it took us to figure out how to talk normally?”
Megatron didn’t answer right away, too focused on following a seam that went from the edge to disappearing behind Starscream’s shoulder. It was quiet, so quiet that it was nearly missed, but that action made the seeker let out a little gasp. Then the spell was broken.
The wings suddenly locked into place and Starscream shoved Megatron’s chassis, and with the larger mech being caught off guard it pushed him aside. “I’m needed elsewhere.”
He watched the seeker stalk off to the nearest door and felt the need to get one last word in.
“You don’t have to hide them,” Megatron called after him, and it made Starscream stop at the door. He turned, hummed in thought, and continued on his way. The room fell back into silence, the only noise being a beeping from a nearby console.