Skyfire's wings twitched, sweeping them up and down as he stretched his back. He locked the lab behind him, the hall quiet as it always way. It was some time past when the last bot usually went to rest, but he'd been caught up in his organic slides to take notice at first. Now his aching wings were paying the price; he'd been hunched over a microscope longer than he should have been without a break.
He made his way to the rec room to retrieve his ration for the evening, and signed his glyph to get it. Skyfire paused as he heard the footsteps outside in the hall, and he wondered who else was out so late. 'Perhaps it's just someone back from a late patrol. I hope they didn't run into Decepticons.'
The door opened, and he glanced over to see very shiny and gleaming yellow plating, more a golden color in the lighting of the room. Sunstreaker certainly lived up to his name, being as bright and shining as the namesake. The smaller mech ignored the shuttle as he took a ration without signing anything.
Skyfire made a sound, stiffening as those bright blue optics looked at him finally, keen and narrowed in irritation. "You…should sign your name; it's better to avoid having a discrepancy where someone could get nothing if the rations aren't accounted for."
Sunstreaker's optics darkened. "What, you gonna report me otherwise for a measly cube?" he asked snidely. Skyfire hesitated, but that must have been misinterpreted as confirmation as Sunstreaker's lips curled into a scowl. "Are you fragging serious?" he reached to the signing board, and smashed his glyphs in. "There, snitch."
Skyfire winced, because even if he'd been asleep for millions of years, the vitriol was as familiar as if it were yesterday. "I just don't want anyone to get in trouble because of it."
Sunstreaker sneered. "Over a cube?" he asked mockingly. He tilted his head sharply, almost like a bird when Skyfire didn't reply. "You really are serious. For a former 'Con, you care a lot about other bots."
The shuttle's wing hitched, frame tensing. "I'm not a Decepticon." He said firmly. "And had I been aware of the situation I wouldn't have joined, not even for-" he stopped, because that was a sore spot.
"For Starscream?" Sunstreaker didn't seem to care about hitting the nerve, and Skyfire flinched, optics glancing around nervously even in an empty room. A strange glint began to appear in Sunstreaker's optics, something that was gone before Skyfire could identify it as the yellow mech's lips curled again. "And look where you are now; held up in some dingy lab and only coming out to be our taxi-real useful soldier you are."
Each strike was like a physical blow, and Skyfire's wings began to droop. The rising fury stalled, moroseness taking its place. It hurt to hear, but each was true, even as he tried to deny it. "I-I am useful; I'm more than just a taxi. I'm an Autobot officer."
"Oh really?" Sunstreaker tilted his head again, optics glimmering with that strange emotion once more. "You telling me that or yourself?"
Skyfire frowned, uncertain as he always felt like he was assuring everyone else. "Well-I-"
"Sounds like it's more for yourself." Sunstreaker shook his head with a flat look in his optics. It made Skyfire's spark burn. "That's really selfish."
The shuttle tensed. "It-it is?"
Sunstreaker nodded seriously. "Yeah, and I'd know self-centered." He held out one arm and let the plating gleam more in the light. "I'd crush anyone who'd scratched this, but that's the difference between you and me, isn't it? I can afford to be because I get results, and it doesn't matter if I mess up." His lips curled again into that strange half-smirk. "You though? We'd all be fragged if you messed up."
Skyfire frowned, glancing away. "Don't you think I know that?"
Sunstreaker's optics brightened, as though surprised. "I'm just pointing out what everyone else thinks."
That made Skyfire's spark tighten, almost painfully hot in his chest as fear slithered into his thoughts. "They…they do?"
The yellow mech stared at him for a moment, and he nodded as that half-smirk turned into a lopsided smile. "Yeah. They do."
"…after that, Sunny tried to help me be sociable, but I kept messing everything up." Skyfire's wings hung low, his gaze locked on the floor. "I just felt so bad I that I was wasting his time, but then he said," his lips finally upturned into a small smile that broke First Aid's spark, "that I wasn't wasting his time, and that he really liked spending time with me, that-that I wouldn't need anyone else but him, if having friends didn't work out."
"And that's when he asked you out?" First Aid asked neutrally. Skyfire nodded, and the medic processed everything he'd been told. And what he heard both horrified and appalled him. It terrified him to know that Sunstreaker was good at manipulation, that the foundation of their 'friendship' had been built upon Sunstreaker getting Skyfire used to him just to pull him into his orbit.
First Aid reset his vocalizer several times, processor stalling as he tried to think of something-anything -to say. "Well…what did he do for the date?" he winced, because that could have gone better.
Skyfire glanced at him, but tilted his head. "It was nice." A short, evasive response.
First Aid could have tried to pick apart just why the shuttle would have such a vague descriptor, but it was pointless to speculate without sufficient evidence. "You said Sunstreaker would be your friend, if…if no one else wanted too." It made his spark twist to say it that way, and just as much when Skyfire looked away.
"Yes." He said quietly.
'If I'd known you then, I'd have been your friend, I really would have.' First Aid wanted to offer his friendship, but that would be a conflict of interest-and make him just as despicable as Sunstreaker. The motive didn't matter, he'd still be manipulating Skyfire like Sunstreaker, and First Aid would help the shuttle in any other way he could. "I'm sorry to bring up bad memories, but…maybe one of the newer arrivals would be more receptive? There aren't really any other flyers, maybe the Aerialbots could learn something from you."
Skyfire shrugged. "I…I suppose, they're just a bit…rambunctious, but it would be nice to speak with other flyers that aren't shooting at me." He smiled weakly, but First Aid's visor brightened to show his mirth.
Then it faded, as he glanced away for a moment. There was still more to do, and he didn't want to go just yet, but he needed to speak with Hoist and check on Cosmos. "I need to go, but," and he made sure his voice was as gentle as could be, "I promise I'll never get mad if you ever want to take a look at your injuries."
The shuttle tensed for a moment, everything coiled tight…but slowly peered at him. "You…you really mean that?" First Aid nodded seriously, and Skyfire looked down again with a bit of a wider smile. "Thanks."
First Aid's chest tightened, spark breaking again if such a show of empathy meant so much.
It truly made him mourn he hadn't known Skyfire before he met Sunstreaker.
'I can't be his friend now without seeming manipulative, but I'm going to help you however I can.' First Aid repeated the thought to himself, because it was a promise he hoped he could do his best to keep.
