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Outside, the storm raged on. Starscream couldn’t really hear it anymore, though, thanks to the snow that had built up around the outside of their cave. It provided a comforting layer of insulation, but he dreaded trying to dig his way out later so that he could send a clear distress signal back to Cybertron in hope of rescue.
If he could get a signal out, they’d come for Skyfire if not for him. He hoped.
“Star?” Skyfire’s voice was soft, both a product of his injury and his systems rerouting power away from non-critical systems to support self-repair instead. Starscream hated it; Skyfire’s voice should be rich and warm and fill the entire cave. “How bad is it?”
“How bad is what? Your head or the storm?” Starscream moved back to his partner’s side and crouched down. Better to be here, now, than fretting over the future anyway. He could do that when Sky recharged again.
“The storm.” Skyfire gave him a weak smile. “I know how bad my head is.”
Starscream nodded. They both knew just enough first aid to be able to make sense of a damage report. Which meant they both knew exactly how close Skyfire had been to offlining permanently in the crash. “Well, it’s still going. But it’s got us buried deep enough that I can barely hear the wind now. Digging out is not going to be fun.”
“At least we aren’t freezing in here.”
“Yet.” Starscream hated himself the moment the word was spoken and Sky flinched, but when he wasn’t worrying about trying to get a rescue, he was worrying about freezing offline in this cave. He didn’t want his last moments to be like that, his or Skyfire’s. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s a valid concern.” Skyfire reached out and tugged Starscream carefully against his side. Star let himself hug his larger partner, though he was especially careful of the damage to his chest.
It had taken a long, long time to warm Sky up enough for the line patches to stick, and Starscream was desperately afraid of breaking one open and starting another leak that he couldn’t repair.
“I don’t want to think about it, though.”
“Neither do I.” Sky sighed and rubbed his back slowly. “How are our energon reserves?”
“We have enough for a full orbital cycle, if we’re frugal.”
“We won’t be able to be frugal, once you start digging.” Skyfire sighed again. “And I want you to be able to leave under your own power. We both know they won’t send a rescue.”
“For you, they will. The academy loves you.”
“Star, please. Be realistic. No one will be coming for us, and I’ve made my peace with that.” Skyfire squeezed him again. “But I don’t want you to die here with me.”
“I am not,” Starscream leaned up so that he could look his partner in the optics, “Leaving this planet without you. So if you’re so sure that no one is coming for us, then you had better start figuring out how to build a solar powered energon converter while I figure out how to build a permanent shelter.”
“Oh, Starscream.” Skyfire’s arm tightened again, and it didn’t loosen even as his systems slipped down into recharge mode again. Starscream curled into his side and tried not to disturb his partner as he was finally overcome by the stress of the situation and started to cry.
But he hadn’t lied. He was not going to just leave the other mech here to die. After they’d recharged, he would get started on building plans. The snow and ice, at least, would give them ample building supplies for that.