Gilded
By SMYGO4EVA
There are creatures on the wretched Earth called butterflies. They were tiny insects that Megatron could easily tear into. Especially their wings– rip them apart, piece by piece, and pull them to shreds with his claw-like hands. No use to simply crush, to use brute force on an insect that fragile. To him, it was better to do it with his own hands; it was all the better to witness their pain as the Decepticon leader watched the life ebb out of them.
Treacherous, power-hungry, the lust for power as equal as his own and never ceasing, Megatron knew Starscream all too well, as far as the early days of their partnership back on Cybertron. Even as he professed his undying loyalty, there always was an edge in the lieutenant's vocal processor. There was always the twisted facet that Starscream wouldn't outright tell him to his face, but it was always there, the desire to lead the Decepticons and put him into nonexistence.
As much as he was calculating and had prowess on the battlefield, stained by the Energon of the weaklings who opposed him, Starscream still was delicate, fragile, with any scratch and marking ebbed in him and making his own spark much weaker. Yes, Starscream was a worthy adversary for the Autobots, dispatching one and adapting the sadistic delight that his Master held, but he had nothing in comparison to the true leader. Nevertheless, he wasn't afraid to get his own claw-like hands dirty, stepping further into puncturing what leadership 'Lord' Megatron had while seeking out his place in the universe.
The entire galaxy was no place even for a brutish, fearless Decepticon, where it was dark and cold and wet, deprived entirely of sunlight. No, Megatron knew that Starscream wouldn't survive out there on his own for too long; a delicate creature like him would die there, his spark extinguished.
Hardened by years of wars and the cruelty of the battleground, on and off Cybertron, Megatron always knew that no one in his faction would stand a chance against him for too long, and Starscream dared to usurp his place of leadership of the Decepticons multiple times; any berating and thrashing would only bury his claws in the seeker even more. Perhaps it would have been easier to clip the seeker's wings to keep him from flying away, to keep him from fleeing like the coward he was, who had the gall to challenge him under the guise of devotion. However, to see the strings of failures from countless times to even tear a hole in his spark chamber was more amusing to the tyrant, to see the seeker squirm under the iron daggers of his imposing glare.
To see life be torn away and a spark extinguished under his hand was Megatron's specialty, especially for anyone an enemy to his conquest, and for a pitiful fool to never expect their death under his iron grip. As for Starscream, there was always something beyond his groveling and pathetically begging for mercy that excited Megatron. Yes, the seeker was delicate and a competent fighter, as he too was a force to be reckoned with in combat; that is why the leader was drawn to him.
Starscream was a fragile creature, having dual intentions when on the ground but so lovely when in flight. With defiance belying under the seeker's words of praise and partnership, it was more indulging for Megatron. Even as he'll watch him fail miserably, have intentions revealed, and the Energon freezing in his veins and the life ebbs out of the lithe lieutenant – only to tear him away from death, so Starscream would open those darkened crimson eyes and Megatron would be able to see fear, agony, and delight with him at having spared him once again.
No matter how many times Starscream would fly away, there was always something that kept bringing him back to his rightful Master. Megatron can't really kill Starscream, of course, as easily as a drone or a weak opponent in cold Energon just for the elation of killing it.
It would only be a matter of time before his wings would be torn from him, gilded and put in his rightful place. Yes, only a matter of time.