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“You don't like it, do you?”
Starscream winces, realizing he must have held off his reaction too long. Quickly he raises his servos in supplication.
“I never said that, Starlet. I'm simply surprised, considering you said you were getting your paint touched up. This is… very different.”
Starscream isn't wrong. He takes another look at his Forgeling’s new paint, and he really doesn't know how to feel. Lonestar’s dusty pink and ivory, soft and regal on her tiny frame, have been painted over with garish crimson and black. War colors. His colors.
Lonestar's wings droop, her optics searching his face. He lets out a soft vent and lifts her up into his lap. His digits smooth over the top of her helm.
“It isn't bad, Lonestar. You look very lovely in my colors. I'm just surprised. Surprised and flattered that you admire me so much as to take my colors.”
Lonestar lays her head against Starscream's cockpit, shuttering her optics and letting Starscream pet her head.
“I thought you would like it. I want to be like you, so I thought maybe this was a good first step…”
Starscream feels his intake dry. Why would she want that? He’s an exemplary example of Cybertronian engineering, of course, but so is she. Forged in the body Primus intended for her.
“Lonestar, you don't need to look like me to be like me. You know this, don't you? Is this because of the frame shamers the other day?”
Lonestar screws up her faceplate stubbornly, looking away. Starscream knew she'd been dealing with ridicule about her frame shape from some of the more close minded academics. Naturally attractive frames were being accused of heavy modding more often now that the fallen beauty colony Omorfia had sent their refugees to Cybertron.
“Oh, Starlet, what do they know? They're just jealous that Primus decided to make you beautiful. There's no shame in your Primus given form, and even less so in being both gorgeous and a warframe. You have all of the benefits of form and function, and a sharp mind to bring them together. Just like me.”
That brings a smile back to Lonestar's expression. She lets out a tense vent, relaxing again. Starscream can't help but mimic the smile.
While it's true that he had stepped into the role of sponsor with the idea of cultivating a follower, he was pleased to have found much more. Fatherhood suited him, if Thundercracker and Skywarp's opinions held any merit. (They usually didn't, but maybe this was the exception.)