"Watch Starscream."
Starscream had never felt so insulted in his entire existence, and individuals had said some pretty nasty things to him in the past; but this, this, was by far the most insulting.
He didn't need watching! He most certainly didn't need Slipstream watching him! She was his subordinate.
Starscream had to bite down on his tongue -to prevent himself from saying anything- so hard that it started to bleed. But Slipstream?
Megatron was watching him, as if daring him to speak out against his decision. He wisely remained silent and continued to maul his own tongue.
Wasn't it insult enough that he had to remain behind with Skywarp and the twins? He knew he was in disgrace, but did that really mean he was going to be treated like a sparkling for the rest of… forever!
But her smirk, her expression, as he had looked at her when he had said it! He had never hated anyone more in that moment. And he couldn't even work out who his anger was really aimed at. Megatron, for paying more attention to Slipstream, Slipstream for looking so smug because of it, or himself, because he knew he had only brought it upon himself.
He had watched, in silent fury, as Megatron, Soundwave and Thundercracker –Thundercracker, why the frag did he get to go- headed off in the direction of the cash machines they had passed a while back in a futile attempt to see if any of the stolen cards –the cards he stole- were still active.
And so, they were in Patna once again and this time, Starscream felt no sense of victory. No sense of triumph, like he had last time at the thought of having outsmarted Megatron and making it into the city without his help. It was just the raw sensation of humiliation and shame –and the insane desire to punch his cousin in the face.
The city was different at night but no less busy. It was still buzzing with activity, street lights illuminated the walkways and the windows of the tallest buildings in the distance lit the night sky like organised stars. Cars and people still filled the roads, beeping and shouting as if no one in this city ever needed any sleep, and the shops were still open along the road. Real shops. Not stalls, but shops, with walls and windows and roofs.
Starscream watched, with another surge of fury, as Slipstream gormlessly drooled over something in a shop window display, completely unaware of everything and anything occurring around her.
She had been left in charge of him!
No, she had been left in charge of all four them. It was just that the other three, Skywarp, Rumble and Frenzy, had disappeared almost immediately after seeing Megatron round the corner.
He and Slipstream were supposed to be looking for them before they got back.
He was beginning to wonder if he would be held responsible if one of the twins wound up dead due to Slipstream's negligence. Maybe it would take the heat off of him for a while?
"Slipstream."
She didn't acknowledge him. In fact, she didn't even blink.
"Slipstream!" He tried again, louder this time.
Still nothing.
Giving up, Starscream stepped closer, peering over her shoulder to see what had captured her literally undivided attention.
A dress. He scoffed. There was absolutely nothing special about the dress at all. It was white. White and boring. And had no point, it didn't even have any sleeves! Wasn't the point of clothing keeping humans warm? How could a flimsy scrap of fabric like that possibly provide warmth for anything?
"Starscream!"
Starscream jumped at unexpectedly hearing his name shrieked in his ear. Whirling around, he came nose to nose with a rather excited looking Skywarp and reared back in shock.
"Skywarp what-?" He began, staring at his brother. Skywarp's lips –and teeth- were an unnatural blue colour and his eyes and smile were wider than Starscream would have ever thought physically possible.
"Look at these!" Skywarp squealed, shoving a brown paper bag of something in his brother's face.
Starscream timidly reached out to take it, as if he was handling a live bomb, and noticed how Skywarp's hand shook with barely contained energy against his. What the frag was wrong with him? It was like he was running high.
He tentatively peeled back the paper bag and peered in. It was full of small bright blue balls. He sniffed them; they didn't smell natural.
"Skywarp, where has this come from? Have you been eating it!?" He asked incredulously, plucking a blue ball from the bag to inspect it closely.
Skywarp snatched the bag back, digging in he pulled a handful out and shoved them into his mouth. "Twy it!" he said through the mouthful of blue gunk, some of it spitting out and almost hitting Starscream on the cheek.
Starscream frowned and ripped the paper bag back out of his brother's hand again, Thundercracker would never forgive him if he allowed Skywarp to poison himself. "Do you even know what this is?"
"Hey!" Yet another overexcited voice sounded off behind him before Skywarp had the chance to reply through his blue mouthful.
Starscream looked to the source of the noise and resisted the urge to slap his forehead.
Rumble and, not too far behind, Frenzy, both with mouths equally blue to Skywarp's, were literally vibrating on the spot.
"That's ours!" Rumble jumped up to retrieve the bag. Starscream held it above his head out of his reach.
"Where did you get it?" He snapped at the scrawny little brat.
"A shop!"
"You stole it?" Starscream didn't bother considering how hypocritical he was being.
"No!" Now both Rumble and Frenzy were jumping up at him, hands clutching and pulling on his loose clothing, trying to drag him down with their weight in order to retrieve the paper bag. Skywarp simply watched, still chewing on his mouthful of crap.
"We brought it!"
"You don't have any money!" Starscream argued, now more interested in keeping the bag away from them purely to annoy them rather than anything else.
Frenzy jumped on his back, arms around his neck, shouting, "Give them back!"
Starscream hissed as Rumble kicked him in the shin, but couldn't do much about it as he was too busy trying to prevent Frenzy from choking him to death.
"Slipstream!" Starscream howled, looking to his cousin for back up. She still hadn't moved from the window display. Useless femme.
"Get off of me you little shit!" He shrieked the human swear word as naturally as he would have a Cybertronian one as he reached a hand behind himself to grab at the twin now pulling on his hair. In his momentary distraction Skywarp rushed forward and snatched the bag right out of his flaying hand.
"Traitor!" Starscream yowled at his brother, running backwards into a shop wall, crushing Frenzy against the brick. The grip on his neck and hair began to loosen.
Rumble, seeing that it was now Skywarp in possession of the bag rather than Starscream, ran forward to attack him, and surprisingly enough, the smaller seeker didn't cower in submission when he saw the twin coming for him.
"Mine!" He shouted, throwing out an arm, miraculously catching Rumble across the face and sending him to the floor. Had Starscream not been so busy trying to slag Frenzy he probably would have praised his younger brother.
"Stop." A very calm, but loud, voice rang out and stopped all four of them in their tracks. Frenzy immediately dropped from Starscream's back.
It was Soundwave. And he didn't look impressed.
Skywarp instinctively hid the paper bag behind his back.
"Explain." Soundwave intoned stepping forward into the streetlight. Thundercracker appeared behind him, scowling at Starscream, clearly blaming him for whatever had been transpiring. Starscream scowled back.
Rumble and Frenzy immediately launched into a heavily edited version of events, waving their arms about enthusiastically, speaking over the top of one another and so rapidly that it was impossible to actually decipher what they were saying.
Soundwave nodded slowly and, after noticing Slipstream drooling against a shop window, regretfully came to the conclusion that he had no one else to turn but Starscream, "Explain." He repeated to the seeker.
"They attacked me!" Starscream burst out, thrusting a finger furiously at the twins.
"He stole our sweets!" Rumble countered, jumping to his feet.
Soundwave stared, "Sweets?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Frenzy shouted, starting to bounce up and down again on the spot, much like he had before the fight had broken out. "Here look!" He ran behind Skywarp and ripped the hidden bag of 'sweets' from his loosened grip, before returning to his creator's side and thrusting them up into his face.
Soundwave looked into the bag before saying quite simply, "They are blue."
"Yeah, they're real good!" Frenzy shouted again, clearly unaware of how loud he was being. He reached out to take the bag back.
Soundwave held them away, similar to how Starscream had, only Frenzy didn't attack him. "No."
Frenzy pulled a face, "Bo-oosss!" He whined.
"Why!" Rumble's equally whiney voice joined his twin's.
"Please!"
"C'mon!"
Soundwave stared at them, then the bag of 'sweets' and back at them again before making up his mind. "NO." He said more forcibly.
Rumble and Frenzy immediately broke into a tirade of annoying whining and wailing noises.
"Stop it." Soundwave warned. His creations didn't seem to be paying attention though. What had those 'sweets' done to them, and how many had they eaten?
"Oh great." He heard Starscream hiss under his breath. "Look whose back."
Soundwave almost sighed as spotted the familiar silhouette of Megatron approaching in the distance. Great. And Rumble and Frenzy were still rolling around at his feet, begging.
"What are those glitching malfunctions of yours doing, Soundwave?" Megatron grumbled irritably as he glanced down at the twins.
The former Casseticon's –who were still heavily under the influence of the 'sweets'- seemed to take this as a cue to start complaining to someone else; someone with more authority.
"Make him give them back!" Rumble cried childishly to Megatron, tugging on his sleeve.
"What back?" Megatron snapped angrily, brushing him away. He just had about enough of childishness for one day without Soundwave's spawn adding to it.
His third held out the paper bag, which Megatron snatched angrily and looked inside.
"They're blue." He said simply.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Frenzy grumbled, crossing his arms.
Megatron scowled at him, before scrunching up the bag and tossing it carelessly over his shoulder.
Skywarp gasped in horror, his hands flying up to cover his bright blue mouth and the twins stared at him as if he'd just kicked a Turbo Puppy.
He ignored them. "Get off of the floor, we're going."
The twins scrabbled to their feet as their leader nudged them with his foot, distress at the loss of the sweets quickly forgotten as curiosity took over. "Where?"
Megatron didn't answer, and began to lead them down the street further into the city.
Thundercracker immediately started to fuss over Skywarp, lifting a sleeve to wipe at the blue staining his face, slapping his smaller brother as he fought him off half-heartedly.
Starscream, intelligent enough to know when not to test his leader's patience, decided that Thundercracker was the best bet he had and quickly fell into step with his brothers. "So, did you get anything?"
Thundercracker nodded his head, "Two cards, minus the international fee, we managed about… six hundred dollars, American."
Starscream's expression brightened, "really?"
"Yeah," said Thundercracker absently, watching as Soundwave wrestled Slipstream away from the shop window, before refocusing his attention on his brother. "What were you doing?"
Starscream scowled. "Nothing!" He snapped angrily, stomping off ahead to walk on his own.
Thundercracker shook his head and turned to his smaller brother for an explanation. Skywarp just smiled stupidly at him.
"What the Pit have you been eating?" he asked suspiciously.
Skywarp giggled.
XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD
The 'Hotel Windsor' was located in a tall building –but it was not the tall building. They had to climb two floors worth of spiralling stairs to reach the reception. It was close to a local market and the surrounding area was noisy, dirty, and looked like a badly constructed shopping centre. But after living in a slum for the past three weeks, none of the Decepticons were particularly fussy about the location.
The large, golden sign above the reception desk actually read, 'Ho el Windsor' and the carpet was an unpleasant brown-y red-ish colour, but all in all, it wasn't that bad.
The twins –and Skywarp, once he had broken free of Thundercracker's grip- were running around the lobby, cackling madly and tormenting the hotel staff. Clearly the influence of the blue stuff they were eating hadn't yet worn off. They didn't stop sprinting from one end of the lobby to the other until Starscream finally lost his temper and stuck out a leg, tripping Skywarp and sending him flying into a display table covered in flowers; much to Thundercracker's annoyance.
Thankfully, Megatron wasn't paying attention to any of this, and was too busy unsuccessfully trying to book a room with a receptionist who spoke little to no English and was adamant he be shown proof of identification before he handed over any keys. The former warlord had only just managed to get the receptionist to acknowledge his existence and become slightly more compliant after flashing a wade of pink paper. Before that, the human had clearly only seen his bare feet, and decided it was a matter security could handle. Needless to say, the situation was starting to get heated rather quickly, and with the majority of his Decepticons too busy squabbling amongst themselves to be of any assistance to him, it was Slipstream –who approached only after Megatron had snapped the receptionist's pen in half out of spite- who managed to get through the language barrier. And she didn't even have to use words.
The receptionist, local –obviously- short, portly, and pompous looking with a proud moustache to match, immediately brightened as he saw the attractive, dark haired young woman's approach.
A flip of her hair, cock of the hip, lean over the counter just that little bit further and killer smile. He was smitten.
Megatron watched, mildly appalled and surprisingly proud, as Slipstream twirled around, exchanged money for keys, no questions asked, no identification needed, room number one-one-two. He decided he would have to let Slipstream handle any humans from now on; they were all disgusting filthy little creatures anyway.
Snatching the vase Starscream had been threatening Rumble with out of his second's hands as he went, Megatron grudgingly followed the femme seeker's lead through the lobby towards the elevators, where it soon became apparent that they wouldn't actually be using said elevators.
Although Starscream, Skywarp, Slipstream and Thundercracker were no longer seekers physically, they still were, in mental regards anyway. Their now human minds were still telling them the cramped enclosed space would not accommodate the wings they no longer had, and no amount of shouting, threatening, pushing and even bribing would convince them otherwise.
Megatron, who didn't trust the seekers –or rather, one in particular- to make it up three flights of stairs and reach room one-one-two without incident on their own, had no choice but to take said stairs as well. And Soundwave, who was not about to take a ride in an enclosed space with the twins in the hyperactive state they were still in, joined him.
A few minutes later and they stood at room number one-one-two and after a brief fight to get the door open -either it was stuck or Megatron just didn't know how to use keys- they received their first glimpse of what would be known as home for unforeseeable future.
To any well travelled tourist, it looked like Hell, but to the Decepticons, it was like stepping into paradise.
There were beds. Not one bed, but two. One double bed and one single, both complete with pillows, sheets and actual mattresses. The other few scarce fittings included a suitably sized wooden table, carved with outdated swirling patterns, high enough only to kneel at, and a very lumpy looking burgundy sofa. It was dark outside but the single minuscule window wasn't likely to let in a lot of light, not that there would have been much of a view anyway. The same tasteless carpet from the lobby covered the floor, complete with suspicious looking stains and all. The shabby, faded, yellowing wallpaper didn't at all match the carpet or any of the furnishings and there seemed to be something dripping down it in one of the room's corners, leaving a browning trail of damp.
But no one really paid any mind to the smaller details -like what was damp and where mould might have been growing- as the appearance of the beds had sent most of them into shock, and for a moment there was an awed silence amongst them.
Until...
"Pillow fight!" squealed an excited Rumble, already running towards the beds, intent on being to first to snatch one of the cushions to whack his brother over the head with it. Frenzy was quick to follow, joining his twin in bouncing up and down on the springy mattresses, pillows being thrown back and forth. Skywarp, not wanting to be left out, skipped to the side of the bed and shoved Rumble off before he climbed up and proceeded to continuously wallop the both of them relentlessly.
Soundwave simply stood back and watched them, lips quirking slightly as the twins turned around and called out for him to join them at the risk of turning their backs on a fully 'armed' Skywarp.
Starscream did nothing but glare hatefully at them. Not that he felt any underlining contempt for Skywarp and the twins specifically, they were no more infuriating than everyone else. He was just tired. And their constant squeals and giggles were doing nothing to impede the migraine he could feel coming on. The car horns and shouting from the street outside that should have been muffled by the walls separating them only seemed to be amplified inside, adding to his head ache.
The room smelt like human. It was not the unbearable stench of the slums, where the entire five mile radius reeked of something akin to a mix of rotting fish and open sewers, but the more subtle, nonetheless annoying, smell of a living Fleshbag. It reminded him of his days on Earth before locating Megatron and the All-spark, back when secrecy had been of the utmost importance and he'd had no choice but to allow the Meat bags access to his cockpit and his olfactory sensors had been filled with nothing but the unbearable stench of human. It was the same kind of smell. Only now it wasn't so unbearable, his olfactory sensors had dimed considerably and he had come across far worse these past few weeks.
The bare single light bulb, swaying slowly and hypnotically, above him –the only source of light in the room- was flickering randomly, only adding to his annoyance.
Scoffing for no apparent reason, he turned on his heel, presumably to stare at something more entertaining, or perhaps less annoying, than Skywarp and the twins bouncing up and down on a bed hitting each other over the head with pillows and giggling madly as puffs of feathers burst out at the rough treatment, and was stunned to find... another door.
Curiosity peaking, Starscream risked a glance behind him to see if he was being paid any attention. Megatron seemed to be glaring down at the street below from the window and Soundwave, Thundercracker and Slipstream all seemed perfectly amused with the other three's childish game, none of them were paying the least bit of attention to little old Starscream, sneaking through a second door they had yet to notice.
It was rather anti-climatic, but at the same time, not. It was a bathroom. And not a particularly nice bathroom either, small and even more grime covered than the bedroom, but Starscream fell in love with it regardless.
Bathroom, on-suite, whatever it was, it had water. Clean water.
Without thinking it over for another second, Starscream quickly shucked off his dirty, ragged rags, experimented with the taps for a few moments before he finally realised the red and blue colours actually meant something and weren't just for decoration, and jumped under the shower of lukewarm water with a little gasp of pleasure.
He simply stood there for a moment, face tilted upwards, eyes closed and mouth open, and just felt the water cascading down his face and neck, running over his chest and legs, washing away all of the dirt and grime and disgust of the last few awful weeks.
He felt fresher, renewed almost. He felt like he could finally breathe again as steam rose around him and fogged up the tiny square room. The sound of the rushing water blocked out all of the annoying outside sounds, the twins and Skywarp's shrieks now merely muffled noises through the wall that didn't quite make it to his ears.
He could have stayed under there for the rest of the night, and probably would have, had the door to the on-suite not suddenly banged open and knocked him from his peaceful daydreaming.
A frowning Thundercracker stood in the doorway, flanked by the still energetic looking twins and Skywarp, who all seemed very interested in getting a closer look at the shower. Clearly the sound of the rushing water had alerted everyone else of the bathrooms existence. Slag-it.
Thundercracker was shouting something at him, "...Share!"
Starscream pulled his head out from under the stream of water in order to hear him better, "What!?"
"I said, are you going to share!?" repeated Thundercracker, clearly referring to the shower, and knowing Starscream, which he did, the Air Commander would have already staked his claim on the bathroom appliance and would do everything in his power not to have to share it. He wasn't wrong.
Starscream scowled, he had only just gotten in! He shouldn't have to get out just because a couple of degenerates had nothing else to entertain themselves with. What, had they already broken the beds? For their sake they better not have.
"Later." He snapped, turning away from his audience in the doorway and trying to refocus on the sensation of warm water flowing between his shoulder blades. He shrieked and flinched back as a hand suddenly touched his damp arm.
It was his brother again.
"What?!" He hissed dangerously. Thundercracker took a wary step back, clearly hearing the unspoken "... are you doing in my personal space!" in his brother's tone.
"Megatron wants to speak to you."
Starscream visibly jolted. Under normal circumstances he would have snapped that the old fool would just have to come to him if he wanted to speak with him, as he, Starscream, would not answer his hails like some sort of trained drone, but after today's debacles, he knew better than to push his luck.
Taking the flimsy gray towel Thundercracker offered he stepped out of the shower, leaving the water running and allowing Skywarp and the twins to shove each other aside as they all fought to get in at the same time, fully dressed. He furiously rubbed at the dripping strands of hair hanging in front of his face before hastily wrapping the towel around his waist, reluctant to redress into the filthy rags he had been forced to wear for three weeks straight.
Stepping back out into bedroom and shivering at the loss of the warm damp air, he decided not to comment as he heard the click of the bathroom door as Thundercracker locked the twins and their brother in.
Megatron was sat at the end of the closest bed, surrounded by shattered pillows and rumples sheets left from the previous 'pillow fight', running a calloused hand through his growing stubble; Starscream began to wonder if he'd grow a beard and if it what it would end up looking like on him.
"There is something we need to discuss." The older man purred, beckoning the seekers forward, Soundwave already stood at his side.
Starscream glanced around at them and was more than a little annoyed that everyone else seemed to know exactly what was going on when he felt nothing but confusion. Clearly this was going to be about something they had already been let in on. He knew Megatron had been keeping him in the dark. He fumed, fighting to keep his mouth shut as spiteful comments started to form in his mind.
"As most of you already know..." Megatron began, glancing at each of them in turn, gaze lingering on his second for a moment longer, lips curling as he saw Starscream's scowl deepen. "We will be leaving this... country soon." He seemed to struggle with the word country, as if he wanted to use a word far cruder, or insulting. Bihar would always be a slag hole on par to Kaon in his opinion. It was just as filthy, broken, beyond help via legitimate means and it probably always would be. "And travelling to America..."
Starscream choked not so subtly, asides from Slipstream glaring at him, he was ignored.
Megatron continued, "...Where we will set up fake identities as humans and find the boy."
Starscream's jaw dropped. "Excuse me." He hissed out slowly, disbelievingly, whipping his head back and forth to look between them, his wet hair flicking water across the room, all previous thoughts of self-preservation forgotten as he expressed the unquenchable urge to voice his opinion and belittle his leader. Had Megatron finally snapped?
"He is, after all, merely a boy and it will not be much of a challenge to apprehend him." Megatron stated smugly, as if he knew what his second was going to say and had a comeback to everything and anything he would throw at him.
Starscream snapped his open jaw shut, which had fallen open after hearing Megatron's blatant arrogance. "They must have him guarded twenty-four-seven, in a safe house somewhere, surrounded by Autobots and those NEST scum-"
"He is not." Megatron corrected, in a surprisingly calm tone for one of Starscream's little rants. "He will still be at ..." He paused, trying to recall the name of something.
Soundwave finished for him, "...Collage."
"But the All-spark-"
"Prime would not allow the freedom of even a being as pathetic as the boy to be impeded by something as simple as the very source of our kind." Megatron muttered somewhat spitefully.
"Wha- bu-" Starscream stuttered in confusion, pulling at his still damp hair. None of this was making any sense! "What good would it do? What would kidnapping the boy achieve if we are still like this?"
Beside him Slipstream scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Give him a minute, he'll get it eventually."
Megatron didn't seem inclined to give him the satisfaction of figuring it out for himself though and answered him. "But you have already mentioned it, my dear Starscream." He spoke softly in the same patronising tone of voice he used whenever he felt like insulting his second's intelligence by treating him like a sparkling. "The All-spark."
Starscream ignored the insulting tone of voice for a moment, thinking over the possibilities. "You think it could change us back?" He asked incredulously, shuffling towards Megatron.
"It's the only chance we're got." Thundercracker's voice came in from his other side. "I mean, what other options do we have? Wait and see what happens?"
"I still don't see the problem with that plan." Interrupted Slipstream.
"If you like being a disgusting little insect so much, Slipstream, then you can stay here. I don't have any problems leaving you behind!" snarled Starscream viciously, the mere thought of having to remain like this for the rest of his –now mortal- life made him feel physically sick.
"No one is being left behind." Soundwave said loudly, glaring at him.
"So er..." Thundercracker nervously lifted a hand as if he needed permission to speak amongst them even as Slipstream and Starscream just shouted out their opinions over the top of each other. "How are we going to get to America?"
Megatron smirked and fell back onto the tangled mess of pillows, feathers and sheets on the bed, saying simply, "We fly."
Starscream seemed to take it as a personal insult, "Don't be ridiculous! You know we can't."
"Humans own planes too, Starscream." Megatron reminded him, relaxing into the beds plush covers, allowing his eyes to drift shut. He furrowed his brow as the felt the mattress dip under extra weight.
Cracking open an eye he refrained from flinching back as Starscream's scowling face appeared upside-down hovering inches above his own.
"You expect us to get on a plane piloted by a human? Are you suicidal?" There was something akin to true terror in his second's eyes.
Megatron wanted to laugh. Oh, the irony, imagine, a seeker scared of flying. "I don't think they crash them that often." He teased.
Starscream clearly didn't find this funny. "I won't get on that plane." He said stubbornly, sitting back and leaving Megatron's peripheral vision, crossing his arms as he leant against the head rest. "I refuse to."
Megatron didn't seem too bothered, "We'll see." He looked to Thundercracker and Slipstream. "Do you have any problems with flying?" They both shook their heads, and Starscream hunched his shoulders as Megatron set his cocky gaze back on him. "Looks like it's just you, Starscream."
This must have signalled the end of their meeting, as Soundwave then stood and started to move towards the bathroom, intent on releasing what lay within. Shame, it had been so peaceful.
Megatron must have been thinking the same thing, "Leave them Soundwave. I'm sure they can entertain themselves in there for a little while longer. And I'm quite enjoying the quiet."
Soundwave seemed to hesitate, clearly torn between obeying his leader and not wanting to neglect his creations.
"You can let them out later." Megatron reassured, pulling a pillow out from under Starscream to use himself, ignoring the half muffled snarl the action drew from his second.
"What if they've broken something?" Soundwave murmured questioningly, more to himself than anyone else.
Starscream nearly launched himself off the bed at the thought of anything happening to the shower, only to have Megatron's thick arm wrap around him from behind and forcibly tug him back down. Starscream fumed, but had to settle on letting out his frustration by squeezing the life out of Megatron's arm. He would kill them if they had; he hadn't even had the chance to use it properly yet!
Slipstream snorted, again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. It wasn't very lady like. "It's not 'if' they've broken anything. It's what they've broken."
She did have a point.
"Alright," Megatron groaned, releasing his grip on Starscream and folding his arms behind his head as he fell back onto the mattress with a soft bounce. "Let them out."
Starscream, now free of Megatron constricting arm, did jump off the bed and was quickly halfway across the room, simultaneously whipping off his towel and unlocking the bathroom door in his eagerness to return to the shower, which, as he opened the door, he found was still running.
It didn't take long for him to kick the other three out, and they seemed a lot less excitable than before. Maybe the side effects of that blue stuff were finally wearing off.
Stepping under the stream of water once more, Starscream quickly realised why those pit spawned brats had evacuated the shower so quickly. They had used up all of the hot water.
The almighty screech of both outrage and shock rang out not just in the bathroom or the bedroom, or even the hallway outside, but managed to be heard on all four floors of the hotel. For a human vocaliser, it was quite impressive.
Megatron almost smiled at the sight of his former Air Commander stomping, naked, drenched, shivering and furious, back into the bedroom. Cheeks flushed, it looked like the first shriek hadn't been the last. Slipstream made a noise of disgust as she flung herself onto the sofa, sneering at his naked form; Starscream immediately whirled around to glower, opening his mouth to snap something at her.
Megatron decided to intervene, it was late and he was sat on a bed he would rather already be sleeping on, "Put your clothes back on. You will catch a cold."
The younger man grimaced, "They're filthy, I'm refuse to wear them for a second longer and if that means I have to spend the rest of my time as an organic freezing to death so be it. You might not care about hygiene but I do, you smell."
Frenzy, who was busy being taken out of his water sodden clothes by Soundwave, like his brother and Skywarp already had, subtly leant forward to tentatively sniff his creator and then reared back, wrinkling his nose. For once he had to agree with the screechy seeker.
Megatron exhaled tiredly and taking one look at Starscream's stubborn expression and defiantly crossed arms and decided it wasn't worth the argument. "We will buy clothes tomorrow," he announced, noting how Slipstream's head popped up from over the back of the sofa at the mention of shopping, "but I still can't have you prancing about the hotel nude. It might raise suspicions."
"More like get us thrown out and Starscream arrested." Rumble could be heard muttering under his breath, ducking as Soundwave made to slap him on the back of his head.
Megatron ripped a sheet off the bed next to him and made to wrap it around his second's shaking shoulders, only to have Starscream hiss at him, snatch the sheet from his hands and do it himself. Soundwave and Thundercracker followed their leader's example by doing the same with Skywarp and the twins.
Too exhausted to do anything other than collapse on a bed, Megatron did just that. Letting his subordinates fight it out between themselves as to who was sleeping where. There was a short argument between Soundwave and Slipstream over the sofa, which the femme quickly won by stating that she was sick and tired of sleeping in such close vicinity to large males who had habits crushing her in their sleep. Soundwave immediately dropped it and let her do as she pleased. So with Megatron sprawled out on the single bed that left only the double for Soundwave, the twins and the remaining seekers, who all -except for Starscream who seemed to think he had the ability to shift either Megatron or Slipstream- managed to squeeze in.
The former Air Commander had about as much luck as Soundwave at getting his cousin to budge, or even just convincing her to just share, no matter how much he hissed at her.
Unable to even attempt sleep with such a racket going on, Megatron sat up in bed and snapped at Starscream to, "Get over here you impudent brat!"
Amazingly, his second obeyed and once within arm's length was wrestled into the bed with him. Starscream did everything short of decking him in the face to get free of the cramped bed, tangled sheets and his leader's clutches but to no avail, and had no choice but to give in and slump into the unbelievably soft mattress, biting back a little sigh of relief as his back finally met with a surface that wasn't hard and covered in dirt. He rolled onto his side, facing away from his leader and fisted the sheets, dragging them up to his chest.
He shivered as he felt the brush of Megatron's warm, clothed chest against his prickling back and a warm, rough palm slide over his bare hip. He bit his lip and forced his mind to focus something other than his completely oblivious leader who was doing nothing short of spooning against his backside. There were a few hushed whispers from the others before he heard the rustle of sheets as someone climbed out of the double bed and treaded softly across the room to switch the lights off with a sharp click, leaving them all in relative darkness, only the faint glow of the street lights and car headlights through the gaps into the thin curtains illuminating the room.
The seeker shivered as Megatron's breath ghosted across his shoulder and shuffled down further into the sheets, freezing in place as he heard the mattress groan and felt his leader reposition his grip on him. The older man's palm felt unnaturally heavy as it bushed up his side and came to rest over his taunt stomach, which then knotted in apprehension. He tried not to squirm and prayed to Primus for Megatron to just lay still, clenching his jaw as he felt the tyrant press his face into his damp hair, exhaling heavily.
The seeker stayed awkwardly rigid for a few more moments, and after it became clear that Megatron had drifted off into sleep, he visibly deflated, releasing his half chewed bottom lip, un-widening his eyes and unclenching his fists. At long last allowing himself to relax and sink into the soft warm bed and drift off.