Archive of Our Own

It wasn’t often that the seeker gave–or received, for that matter–any sort of affection.

When he used to have his trinemates with him they would preen each other, sure, but that was the most they would do. Sometimes a hug if they rescued a member from a particularly risky situation, or maybe worriedly checking over the other if they got back safe yet injured.

After their deaths under the servos of the Sharkticons and the Quintessons, it was never the same. Starscream had grown incredibly distant from everybody, from his own surviving seekers to even Megatron. His lordship had even been concerned for him at one point, checking up on him sometimes and bringing him energon during the cycles where he hadn’t bothered to refuel.

He’d gotten closer with Megatron during those times. Much closer.

But that was in the past. Before everything about him changed. Or perhaps both of them did, in their own ways. Starscream never knew which one it was. He’d blamed himself all that time the farther they grew apart from each other. Blamed himself for Megatron changing.

Gentle touches turning into harsh grips and vicious beatings, even when he did nothing wrong. Sweet nothings whispered during moments of vulnerability turned into cruel words and beratings.

The servos that used to hold him gently now used to hit him. Slap, scratch, choke him.

The voice that used to sound so kind now sounding violent, threatening him at each turn.

The mech that used to be someone different, someone understanding, now a brutal monarch who had forgotten what it meant to be good.

He had grown used to the abuse, up until Knockout came along. The medic had shown him love, something he hadn’t been given for vorns.

It almost hurt to receive it again.

Starscream was so scared of affection, of love, that he tried to push Knockout away every single time, physically and emotionally, to prevent another relationship becoming loveless. And yet, the red mech persisted. Helped him to understand not all touch is violent. Knockout took it at Starscream’s pace, never rushing him or forcing him to do anything they didn’t want to do.

It was nice for a while.

Then he was betrayed. That fateful day when the Autobots boarded the Nemesis, when Unicron was still a threat. Knockout had turned against him, joining the opposite faction. Locking him away in a cell to rust . It was a miracle he ever escaped in the first place. The ship had crashed, and the walls crumbled to show an exit. Sure, the Decepticons had completely fallen apart, but hey, maybe he could escape and go solo. Live under the radar and get his revenge one step at a time.

But Primus always had a plan for him, and it was never a good one.

The Predacons had cornered him at the throne on Darkmount and chased him away, continuing to hunt him every day until they had finally cornered him. And yet, when he had given up, they showed him mercy.

Well, more like the Predaking did. The other two weren’t exactly keen on wanting him alive, especially for all that he did to them, but who were they to disobey their king?

The Predaking had taken him back to the cave where all 3 of them resided, and instead of tearing him apart, the Predacon had shown him kindness again.
Pity, in Starscream’s optics. That’s all he was showing the seeker. Nothing else. Besides, they were probably going to kill him in his sleep at one point anyway.

But they never did.

Predaking always seemed to know if something was wrong. Even if he didn’t know all of the silver mechs body language, he understood enough to see when he was upset.

That’s when Starscream learned that seekers and predacons are somewhat similar, to a certain degree. Some wing movements could mean the same thing, while others were completely different.

Both species were capable of preening each other, but the predacons were harsher as they had tougher plating and could withstand most things thrown their way. Seekers on the other hand were gentler, aware of the sensitivity in their wings and upper back.
Starscream had often handled that area himself, even if it was particularly difficult now that he had nobody to do it for him. The predacons noticed how the seeker was struggling to preen himself alone, yet none of them had stepped up to try and help.

Darksteel doesn’t do much of a great job (as evidenced by screeches and growls of complaints from the others), Skylynx is far too rough–the seeker would notice puncture wounds and marks that weren’t there post-preening.

The Predaking was far better at it than the rest. He was superior, after all. Even if he was also kind of rough at times, the other two predacons hadn’t complained after.

Or maybe they were just scared of upsetting him. One or the other.

One day the Predaking had noticed Starscream struggling with a particular spot on his left wing. He couldn’t exactly reach it well, especially while sitting down, and it was pissing him off. The seekers hisses and angry curses in a language the Predacon couldn’t quite understand made him think he should probably help.

But then again, they aren’t exactly… close.
Sure they sleep in the same nest (Predaking knows the seeker is most likely afraid of trying to leave, which saddens him a little), sometimes they go on a flight if Starscream’s feeling particularly trustworthy about it, but that doesn’t exactly give off friendship. They were currently sitting in that very same nest, with the Predaking in root form laying off to the side to give Starscream some room to do his business.

The seeker usually preened himself far later than the predacons, in fear of being dragged into a rough session that would 100% end with him being covered in claw marks due to Skylynx. The others knew not to try to interrupt during that time, but the Predaking would keep an eye on where he struggled. Just in case.

Right now would be the best time for that just-in-case.

The Predacon shuffled in his spot attempting to sit himself up and get closer to Starscream, letting out a chitter to make the seeker aware he was behind him now.

“Eh? Oh, you. Whatever you’re going to do, it can wait. I can’t reach this blasted spot on my wing and-” Starscream cut himself off with a sharp gasp as he felt the Predaking’s mandibles touch his wing, and he very quickly lurched away.

“ Gah! You- what are you doing?! I don’t want your denta near my wings! I preen separately from you for a very good reason!” The seeker had turned himself around now to face the predacon in front of him. “You three are incredibly rough, and my wings are very sensitive! I’ve seen how Darksteel ends up after Skylynx preens him!”

Starscream could care less that Skylynx growled at him from somewhere further in the cave to let him know he heard that. He also heard the following sounds of Darksteel giggling and the impact of claws on metal and inferred that Skylynx just smacked him over the head.

“I don’t need you near my wings. I am perfectly capable of it by myself!” Starscream had half a processor to push the Predaking’s snout away from him, but he quickly shrunk on himself when the Predacon stood to transform into his mech version, easily towering over him even when he plopped back down to sit to seem less imposing.

“I understand that you do not trust me, Starscream,” Predaking spoke, “but I want to help you, just this once. I can see that you are struggling with your wing.”

“Ah- well, now that you… offered, I-I suppose that you could…” His wings lowered as he stuttered, his voice full of hesitation.

“Are you only letting me do this now out of fear? I do not wish to force you into this. I am not going to hurt you for denying me, if that is what you think it is.” The Predaking’s expression grew softer. His usually somewhat hardened expression had disappeared to give way to…

…Pity, Starscream thought. It was pity he sensed.

It’s always pity in the end, isn’t it?

The seeker’s expression morphed from fury to defeat in a matter of kliks.

“I am not going to force you to do something you do not want to do. If you want me to leave you alone, then I will do so, Starscream.” Predaking’s voice was reassuring, there wasn’t a hint of insincerity behind it. The dragons wings wavered slightly as he reached a servo out, yet not making any other move.

He was letting him go at the seekers own pace.

Starscream’s optics flitted between the large clawed servo in front of him and the optics of the Predacon. As much as he still didn’t trust him, it…was nice to have an option to back out.

“...I’m sorry, it’s just-” Starscream’s voice caught in his vocalizer as if he was trying not to cry. He stopped himself for a moment, trying to collect his bearings. It felt weird to properly apologize instead of begging for forgiveness for once.

“I’m not…used to being given much of a choice sometimes.” The silver mech’s optics were looking downwards at the servo laid out before him, his own wary of holding it.
“Megatron was cruel to me. You’ve seen it. I never had a choice when it came to him. Some leader he was.”

“I will always give you a choice. A king never forces another to do something they do not desire. If you wish for me to help, I will help you, and if you do not, then that is fine.”

Starscream finally brought himself to look back up at the Predaking, his wings lifting just slightly.

That warm feeling in his spark returned. Stronger.

“I…I will let you help me. Just this once.”

“Are you sure?”

Prime this was much more stressing on the sensor nodes than it should be.

He was given an option.

He is allowed to back out.

He trusts him.

“If I wasn’t sure, would I be turning around to let you get that spot right now?” Starscream managed to push out a snarky joke as he began to partially stand to turn himself around and sit back down, back and wings facing the Predaking.

He couldn’t stop himself from shaking though.

This is still an apex predator that he's giving complete access to his wings.

Anything could go wrong. The Predaking could give into his instincts and it’d be all over.

Starscream heard the sounds of the mech transforming once more behind him. It was probably easier to do this in root form after all.

The seeker took a deep intake to try to calm himself as he felt the breath of the dragon behind him on his wings. He really needs to stop forgetting how much bigger the Predacon is these days.

He nearly jumped out of his own plating at the roughest primus-damned glossa known to cybertronian kind dragging itself up that tough spot repeatedly. The texture of it wasn’t exactly great on his wing, but what more can he do about it?

When he felt actual denta scraping across the plating of his wing he had to stop himself from leaping away again.

Everything felt so weird, but then again, he’s not a Predacon, so it must be different for Darksteel or Skylynx compared to him. His wings twitched repeatedly as he tried to get used to the sensation of impossibly sharp fangs and an incredibly abrasive glossa all on the same spot, practically enveloping almost half his wing. Claws came to hold his wing still and he couldn’t help but flinch, even if it was the gentlest hold the dragon could muster in this moment. The preening activity stopped for a second, the Predaking letting out a small chirp as if to ask if he was alright.

“It’s- you’re fine, I'm just…not used to it. Carry on.” Starscream exhaled as if he was holding in a breath during that sentence. The denta and glossa of the Predaking went right back to work, not letting up to make sure it was truly clean.

The seeker had to admit it was kind of relaxing after a little while, even if the coarseness began to sting a little. He didn’t catch himself purring until it seemed to be rumbling throughout his entire body, and the silver mech was relaxing into everything.

Wow he needed this. He could finally wind down for once instead of being so tense, watching every little corner of the entrance for an intruder, or Primus forbid Megatron shows back up somehow. The Predacons would’ve long handled him if they appeared by now, but his paranoia loves to work constantly, especially during odd joors of the night.

Starscream was quickly sucked out of his little relaxation paradise when he felt rising heat begin to build up on his wing. Is he going to set his wing on fire???

Luckily for once that wasn’t it. It was just that. The heat was scorching, sure, but it did feel nice. Maybe it’s a sort of reinforcement against rust? Something similar, most likely.

The heat dissipated as soon as he felt the cold air of the cave hit his wings again, which meant that the dragon had most likely officially stopped now, and the seeker felt much better.

The Predaking nudged in between his wings before shimmying his way to curl around the seeker, using his huge tail and wings to get him to lay down and get pulled closer to his side.

Starscream could feel himself slipping into recharge, especially after that incredibly relaxing preening session. Even with the heat scare at the end.

“You didn’t do too bad.” The seeker mumbled, the tips of his digits reaching out to brush against one of the ridges of the iron scales. He could see the faded scratches and scrapes from old battles.

Predaking began to emit a rumbling purr as he curled up a little tighter around the seeker, using his large wings as a sort of blanket for him.

Starscream let himself smile a little bit as he finally offlined his optics and fell into recharge.

Maybe they should do this more often.