Starscream gets easily bored after half an hour of watching Rhinox mess with the pieces of the disintegrator, once he's personally examined each and every part of it, something that Dinobot has to admit was quite bewildering.
After all, isn't he the ruthless and treacherous Second in Command and Air Commander of the Decepticons? Why does he have such interest in science and technology?
So, intrigued and more than a little stunned, the Predacon said nothing as the Flier rummaged around, Rhinox shivering every time the ghost went through him, but otherwise ignoring them.
As expected.
It was weird, to be in the engineer's workshop with the mech and not have anything to do.
Dinobot may not be the most educated of Cybertronian, but every now and then he found himself helping the Rhinoceros by building or repairing.
After all, he was a construction bot before he joined Magmatron, as the Predacon leader called himself back then.
Fortunately, Starscream's boredom once he's taken a look at everything he wanted saves him from more discomfort.
He has to constantly remind himself he's dead, for it feels too much as if Rhinox is ignoring him otherwise.
Silverbolt is still in the bridge, having taken over monitor duty, though his gaze is lost in the middle distance.
Any other time, it would have been a problem, but the Predacons have suffered a defeat that will take them some more days to recuperate from.
Dinobot clings to that thought, if only to push away the annoyance and pain of knowing that no matter if he snarls at the Fuzor to pay attention to his duties, he won't be able to hear.
So, still following the Decepticon around to keep an optic on him and make sure he doesn't mess with anything, they find themselves once more in the corridor to the crew's private quarters.
"The Vermin's, full of garbage." The Predacon explains as a sky blue dactyl points to the doors. "Rhinox's. Never been in there." The Flier looks mildly interested at that, but walks past the room with just another glance.
"And this is the cat's and down there yours." The older ghost adds, pointing down the corridor. "Which means your captain's quarters must be around here."
"The door to your left. Satisfied? Can we go away now?" He grumbles, unwilling to spend any more time in such a familiar environment when he's no longer part of it.
It feels as if he had betrayed the Maximals all over again, only this time there's not even the smallest chance to make it up to them.
Except that there may be one.
He just has to convince Starscream to teach him how to properly interact with their surroundings so that he can continue wagging battle against his former comrades.
I wonder how they would react if I were to suddenly appear in front of them.
Smirking wickedly at his imaginings, he almost misses Starscream walking through the door to Optimus' quarters.
Almost.
With a brief flash of panic, he rushes to follow—
And slams against something as soon as he phases through the entrance.
"Watch it!" The Decepticon hisses, pushing the Predacon off of himself before getting to his pedes again.
"How…"
"We're both ghosts. Of course we can interact with each other. So soon do you forget you punched me?" The Flier sneers, turning away from him to look around the room.
Shaking his surprise off as he stands up, Dinobot follows his gaze.
The room is the same big and illuminated one as ever, sparsely yet richly adorned with rock samples, meticulously ordered encyclopedic datapads and pressed flora.
And a potted plant next to the berth that the Predacon is intimately acquainted with.
It has grown since he first put it in that same spot, the pot a bigger one than it was originally in to accommodate for its growth.
And it is definitely bigger than when it first attached itself to the back of his neck while still being a barbed seed.
He never told Optimus where he got it, simply because none of them ever acknowledged it or how it had gotten to the Axalon, but he has the feeling the Transmetal Gorilla knows.
After all, it was that specific plant that helped them deal with Megatron, if just because it gave the Maximal the idea and knowledge of a large reptile's blind spot.
As annoyed as Dinobot was, he has to admit he kind of warmed up to the slagging plant, just like he'd warmed up to the Vermin, and Rattrap is far more annoying.
Plus, he doesn't come up in a soothing combination of color like the weed's flowers do.
"I had almost expected a pet fish or turtle." Starscream muses out loud, examining the plant, not bothered at all by the mech resting on the berth.
"These Maximals were explorers before we crash-landed here. It took quite a while, for them to start concentrating on their surroundings instead of stopping to smell the flowers." The Predacon explains, and has to do a double-take at his own words.
Why did he tell the Decepticon that? It's none of his business!
"And still they never stopped."
But the Flier's smirk is amused in a non-threatening and non-insulting way, perhaps even a bit nostalgic, and Dinobot's annoyance and anger at having been possibly tricked evaporate.
How can this mech be so different from that possessed Waspinator they first met?
"Not really." He adds softly, also approaching to better see the plant…
And his Commanding Officer's face.
To his hidden relief, he looks calm in his light recharge, nothing like Cheetor's pained expression.
"Did they… stop after the valley?" He can feel the Decepticon looking at him, but he doesn't turn away from his examination of Optimus' face, obviously avoiding the other's gaze.
"No." His spark squirms painfully in his chest, echoes of numbness and sharp pinpricks extending to the rest of his frame. "They returned to the ship, prepared your disintegration, went through all the stupid ceremony and cleaned up. If they stopped, I didn't see it. And taking into account I was watching them at all times because you were still out of it—"
"What?" He interrupts, turning to the Flier, who scowls back at him.
"What what?"
"I was… 'out of it'?" He repeats, confused, and Starscream snorts condescendingly.
"You thought your spark was undamaged after leaving the frame? It had started to degrade even before your official deactivation, so I had to put it together before you managed to 'wake up'." He explains, adding quotation marks with his dactyls at the last two words. "Fortunately, it was just a matter of giving you a stable environment and energy source. As easy for me as keeping your fuel pump working was for you."
"You better not be expecting any thanks for that." He hisses, snarling at the darkly amused Decepticon.
"Wouldn't even dare think about it."
A soft groaning makes them immediately turn to the mech on the berth, optics flickering a bit as if not sure if he should stay in recharge or get out of it.
Unconsciously, Dinobot takes a step closer, into the Maximals line of sight.
"He can't see you."
It hurts.
It doesn't matter that it's the truth, or that there's no emotion in the high-pitched voice.
"But I can see him."
"Dinobot?"
Optics he hadn't realized he'd offlined flash to activation almost fast enough to disorient him, but it just ends with a clear sight of Optimus looking at the Predacon's chest, more in recharge than fully booted up.
Startled, the warrior almost takes a step back.
After rebooting his optics a couple of times, the Maximal looks away with a sigh.
"Just a dream…" He whispers tiredly, moving on the berth to try to get comfortable. "I wish everything before that had been a dream too." And to Dinobot's shock, he turns around to stare at the raptor head mounted on his chest. "Oh, my friend… I am so sorry…"
"Not again." Starscream groans, but this time the Predacon just glares at him with sharp teeth bared in a warning.
"You gave so much to us, for the Maximals. And we just returned distrust and an ill-fated future." Optimus continues softly, almost talking to himself. "In a way, I'm glad things ended as they did for you. Not only was your death that of a true warrior and hero, but… I'm afraid your beliefs about the reaction of the Maximal Council may have been more accurate than any of us would like to think about." Optics going dark, the Gorilla starts to relax into recharge. "Thanks for everything, Dinobot. I'll keep an eye on the others for both of us."
Systems start to wind down as the Transmetal finally reenters recharge, and silence fills the room as the Predacon reviews his words once more.
"No, Optimus. I will continue watching over all of you. The Matrix knows you need that." He finally answers with a small smirk, despite it flying over Primal's head. "You're being awfully quiet."
"Do you want me to ruin the scene? Because, let me tell you, it won't be hard at all." The Flier answers, seemingly leaning against thin air, faceplate carefully arranged into disinterest.
"No. No, let it be."
"Why did he stare at the plant while talking to your supposedly gone spark?" Starscream asks curiously, and Dinobot finally turns around to see that the pot is approximately at chest height, which would explain Optimus' stare.
"It's a long story."
"We have time."
They stay in silence after that, the Predacon simply watching the plant as he reminisces.
"Let's just say it taught us both a lesson."
"You do want me to make fun of your processing capabilities, don't you."
To Dinobot's own surprise, he answers with an amused snort.
"And what does it say of yours, who seek my company?"
"That I'm a kind and selfless spark that wants you to at least be able to tell your helm from your aft when you rejoin the All Spark."
Silence.
And then, unheard laughter fills the room.
AN: The chapter title is a vague attempt at remarking that, despite the differences, all Cybertronian are, in the end, similar, if not the same. Yeah, blame my brain XP
