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He left in a hurry— with an exasperated huff and his wings hiked up past his shoulders in a dramatic display of irritation. It didn't help that he was right but not a single other mech in the room would concede and agree because this was Starscream of course. Bumblebee just watched him storm out of the room, likely to keep the situation from getting unnecessarily violent. It's gone the exact same way the past three meetings.
But without Starscream the meeting can't continue, Optimus said as much but everyone's already started shuffling out of the room without him needing to point that out. Starscream's presence was essential to the continuation of these meetings and he knew that, maybe it was just another power trip knowing that the future of all Cybertronians relied on Starscream to be there. It seemed more simple than that though, Bumblebee wasn't ignorant of the insults and backhanded compliments thrown against Starscream's meticulously polished plating, it was probably getting to him more than he wanted.
He didn't know when he had begun to care about Starscream. It seemed like it had been as gradual as it had been instantaneous, either way it was something that Bumblebee hadn't noticed until the worry he felt regarding the seeker was great enough it threatened to swallow him whole. He had found himself caring about a mech that many of his fellow Autobots still openly hated.
The remainder of the Autobots trickled out of the meeting room and Bumblebee followed, but splintered off in the hall from his comrades, there was something tugging at his spark he wanted to attend to first.
⟡ ⟡ ⟡
It had been late afternoon when Starscream had stormed out and it took until the sun had started bleeding reds and oranges into the sky as it dipped below the horizon before Bumblebee had managed to find Starscream. He found the seeker in the middle of a grassy clearing, trees protecting him from being spotted from the road.
"You're not who I was expecting to be the one to come find me." Starscream stated, his voice flat and affectless.
Bumblebee settled into the grass beside Starscream, passing a servo through the grass absentmindedly. "Would you have preferred someone else?"
That earned Bumblebee an aborted sound, somewhere between a protest and disagreement. "That's not what I said."
"So you don't mind then? That I'm here instead of someone else?"
Starscream hummed noncommittally, letting a heavy pause hang in the air between the two. "You're one of the few I'd prefer who was looking for me."
"That's high praise coming from you," Bumblebee laughed. A glimmer of some feeling he couldn't place bloomed in his spark chamber. He couldn't name what he was experiencing but it was nice; a warmth that engulfed his frame and left him searching for more.
"What can I say? I'm feeling generous."
This time the pause stretched longer, more drawn out but it was nice, comfortable in the way they existed in the same space. It was easy like this, comfortable in a way it shouldn't be because the war was barely over and a little part of Bumblebee felt like a faction traitor every time he looked at Starscream and felt his vents cycle with a hitch from the sight.
"There's something about you," Starscream begins after a while, his voice cutting cleanly through their calm silence, "that keeps drawing me in. I wonder just what it is."
"I wouldn't be able to tell you. I'm just a scout and now that's something no longer needed, so maybe I'm nothing now." Bumblebee leaned backwards on his servos, watching the sunlight fade into the dark of night. "Maybe it won't be as bad as I worry it might— not being needed."
A strange noise escaped Starscream, when Bumblebee looked back over at him he looked personally offended, was it from what Bee had said?
"You think you won't be needed now the war's over?" Starscream asked, far too softly for a mech made of hard edges, sharp lines and even sharper words.
"I want to be…" The words strangled themselves in Bumblebee's vocalizer. "I want to be needed still— so badly it might kill me."
And Starscream stared right back at him with a bittersweet smile too gentle to be coming from Starscream and too reassuring to be directed towards Bumblebee. He was just a scout, someone small and inconsequential whose only real purpose was to be cannonfodder or a quick distraction when absolutely necessary. He wasn't anyone important, that didn't bother him, but he wanted to still be useful. No matter what direction the future took them in, Bumblebee just wanted to still be useful.
Bumblebee worried he'd said something wrong when Starscream didn't respond right away.
And then: "What if I need you?"
"What?" Bumblebee managed to rasp, ignoring the lines of text popping up in his HUD threatening to hard reboot his processor right then and there.
Starscream tensed, wings pulled high and his servos clenched into fists at his sides. "What if I need you?" He repeated, the question was somehow just as shocking the second time. "I thought the long awaited end to our war would be enough and I could finally rest, but I only felt lost. The war had consumed so much of me I didn't know what remained without the gore and violence. It was only when you started sticking around more that I really wanted to see what would happen next. You seemed so hopeful and I found myself wanting to share that sentiment. Disgustingly sentimental, I know."
"Oh," he replied rather stupidly.
"Go ahead, laugh. I'm sure you're wanting to. The feared Decepticon second-in-command is afraid of peace. It's hilarious."
Bumblebee found himself moving closer to Starscream, placing a servo on top of Starscream's clenched fist, it loosened and their digits linked together so easily.
"You need me?" The concept seemed silly, something trite said to placate Bumblebee even though there was nothing he could place about the words and even within Starscream's intentions that seemed anything but entirely genuine. Something that was unexpected from someone like Starscream but felt right anyways. Being with Starscream felt right.
"Y'know, normally saying something like that would get me suspicion or contempt from the other party. You could try those reactions out since you seem so stunned."
Bumblebee balked, his words failing him long before they left his intake, stopping and starting and stuttering the entire way. "I— you— I'm— wow."
That made Starscream laugh; light and carefree and so, so genuine. A sound that made Bumblebee's spark ignite in a burning passion and he knew he'd do anything to hear something like that again. He wanted to make Starscream laugh like that again and again.
A smile had found its way on Starscream's face, scheming and conspiratorial as he looked at Bumblebee. "I know of something else that can render you just as speechless. Want to see?"
Despite himself, Bumblebee nodded.
Starscream scooted closer, leaning in until they were sharing vents and Bumblebee could feel the heat emitted from the jet's powerful frame. He hadn't stopped smiling as he closed the distance between their frames and Bumblebee felt Starscream continue to smile as their dermas met for the first time. Bumblebee hoped it wouldn't be the last.
When they pulled away at last, Starscream smiled again. "Well, speechless once more?"
Bumblebee pressed their forehelms together, the hot air from both their venting mixing together. "Try again and we'll see."