Prologue
Starscream had a bit of a problem. Whenever he was on the bridge and had nothing to do, he always found his attention drawn to Soundwave. This normally wouldn't be so worrying; Soundwave was shapely and prettily colored so there was nothing strange at all about wanting to look at him.
But the sheer number of times Starscream felt the impulse to look at his comrade was quite worrying. If he wanted to look at an attractive bot...well, to be honest, the Nemesis was far from lacking. Megatron was obviously exquisite and powerful, Knock Out had thick curves and a pretty face, and even the vehicons had sleek svelte frames.
So, not only was there a lot of lookers on board, but there was also variety. However, Starscream was not a very, to put it politely, needy bot, and did not often feel impelled to stare at a nice chassis, unlike Knock Out who was always ogling somebody.
But it was different with Soundwave. And if he was honest, it always had been. Soundwave's silence had always attracted him. Starscream couldn't wrap his head around exactly why Soundwave's silence made him alluring but he couldn't deny his fascination either.
Between the two of them there was a similarity in height, which was actually a matter of importance to Starscream. All of his life he'd either been taller than cute automobile bots, or much shorter, and thinner, than other aerial bots. Not hugely atypical when it came to Cybertronian courtship, but it had always left him a bit self-conscious. Put simply, if he lent down for a kiss with Knock Out and found that the other was not interested, he would have a long way to back track.
If he was with Soundwave, he could lean over for a quick kiss—well, on a visor, but oh well—or he could actually hug chest-to-chest instead of chin-to-chest. But really—with Soundwave? The idea of it was ridiculous. Soundwave didn't want a relationship; Decepticons rarely did. And if he did, he certainly wouldn't want Starscream. It was no secret he was distrustful of Starscream, and at the very least found him ridiculous and annoying.
On the whole, Starscream was popular for interfacing, but very unpopular for friendship or camaraderie. Normally this knowledge merely amused him, but when he thought that Soundwave also felt this way—without even the interest in interfacing—well, it did hurt a little. And the fact that it bothered him at all, was very worrying.
If this had to happen, why could it not have been Knock Out—who he actually got along with quite well—that he...wanted to be with. When he was with Knock Out, they laughed together over other people's idiocy or rough looks, and they both appreciated the same sort of intellectual (pretentious) conversation. Aside from this, judging from the way Knock Out obviously enjoyed the sight of Starscream's frame and in turn made an effort to pose his own seductively, his feelings would be returned.
Yet despite how nice is was to be with Knock Out, he still dreamed of Soundwave. Knock Out was fun in the way fighting the Autobots was fun; but he longs for Soundwave in the same way he longs for Cybertron.
It was a battle between the meaningful and the meaningless, and he knew which was going to win.