#20 - Why She Stays
When they finally pulled apart, Terrorsaur felt like he had dropped a heavy load that he'd been lugging around for Primus knew how long. He gazed into Starfeather's bright and glittering optics for a moment, almost disbelievingly. Now he knew why he acted the way he did and what this feeling was... and he did not fear it or resent it anymore. Starfeather fell on him in a hug, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Thank you," she whispered. Terrorsaur placed an arm around her and held her tightly.
"Don't mention it, kid." He had said that to her all the time before she insisted that she wasn't a 'kid' anymore. She had grown to miss him calling her that. He then began rubbing her back soothingly. "But seriously, don't mention it."
She giggled, smiling and closing her optics. She felt as if she could do absolutely anything she wanted to do, anything at all, as long as Terrorsaur was right there with her. Needless to say, the feeling was mutual. They stayed like that for a long time. Starfeather nearly fell asleep until Terrorsaur spoke.
"I'm tired of sitting around. I thought you said you wanted to fly?" he complained, though didn't make any move. She giggled again.
"I did, didn't I? Well then, banana beak, let's fly." She eased herself from his arms and stood up.
"Banana beak, huh?" He stood also. "Well then, you're a tar drenched thief."
"A tar drenched thief?" she questioned, faking offense. "What did I steal from you?"
"My sanity and my spark." With that, Terrorsaur jumped into the sky, transformed, and took off. He let out a primal taunting cry from his beast form.
"Hey!" Starfeather laughed and followed suit. They flew just above the treetops and played chase. "Bet you can't catch me!" she called, soaring ahead of him.
"We'll see about that." He sped up and was just about to tag the tip of her tail feathers when she dove down and swooped behind him. He was stunned for a moment by her quick move, but he dove into the trees and disappeared. Starfeather narrowed her optics and followed. She flew through the trees, but couldn't find him. She transformed and searched a little more, but still couldn't find him.
"Terrorsaur?" she called. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her around the waist and lift her higher into the air. She cried out in surprise and started laughing after her captor spoke.
"Gotchya," he said. Starfeather growled, pretending to be upset, and tried to get out of his firm grasp. He held her fast as he carried her over the forest. He wanted to get farther away from the Predacon base so that they couldn't track them. Little did he know that he had gone much farther than he had intended.
She stayed still as he took her high above a small lake fed by a tall waterfall, shadowed by a shier cliff. She wondered what he could be doing. She gasped slightly when he went into a free fall. She suddenly realized that he was going to dive right into the water. She growled again, this time meaning it. She didn't feel like getting wet right now. He chuckled softly as he continued to fall, holding on to her tightly. Now that they were together, he wanted to see how far they both were willing to go tonight. He had blinded himself from her for too long.
The shimmering surface of the water was getting closer and closer. Starfeather was now struggling harder to try and get away from him.
"No you don't," he murmured as he tightened his grip. She let out an exasperated sigh.
"Oh, fine."
-x-
Rhinox was up late that night, tinkering on one of his many projects, and decided to check the perimeter scanners out of habit. When he did, he found two Predacon signatures too close for comfort. Like 'nearly right on top of the base' too close for comfort.
"Optimus," he called via comm. link. "There are two Predacon signatures just outside the base."
"Identity?" Optimus responded, sounding like he hadn't been recharging yet. Rhinox touched a button and read the results on the screen.
"Starfeather and Terrorsaur. Should I wake the others?"
There was a pause before Optimus answered.
"No." The rhino was surprised at this answer. He was about to protest when Primal spoke again. "Rhinox, I want you to come outside with me and show me where they are."
"Uh, of course." Just what was Optimus thinking?
-x-
Just before they hit the water, Terrorsaur let go of her and they separated when they splashed. Starfeather had shut her optics tight and held her breath, then remembered she didn't really need to. Air pumps were more efficient than lungs. She was slowly sinking so opened her optics to turn herself up-right and head for the surface, but she stopped to take in her surroundings. Soft bubbles fought their way up through gently flickering shafts of moonlight. She had forgotten how beautiful the water world could be. The sharp rocks and boulders all around created interesting and beautiful images in the dim light.
Suddenly, she felt Terrorsaur take her hands. She looked to see him grinning at her like he had won an Uno game against her. She would have laughed, but the water prevented her from doing so. Her optics shone with all the emotion she was feeling. He ran his hands up her arms, causing her to shudder, and she dimmed her optics. His smile brightened as he continued up her neck and to her face. Her optics dimmed further as he pulled her face closer to his. He captured her lips and she snaked her arms around his neck. She was unaware that he was raising them upward to the gently rippling surface.
If she had been keeping count, this would've been their third kiss. However, to them, it felt like they had been doing this forever. They never wanted to stop. They broke through, still holding the other close. They remained in the water, only floating in place, just enjoying each other. They were blissfully unaware of two figures looking down on them from the cliff above.
-x-
"So that's the real reason why she's so stubborn to stay," Rhinox mused. He and Optimus were in their beast modes, standing on the edge of the cliff just outside their base, and looking down on the two flyers. They looked so lost in each other, it made one feel all warm inside, but after a while, it started to get awkward.
"I suspected something like that was going on," Optimus said and paused as he watched them like a father would his daughter with her date. "I must admit, it is odd to see Terrorsaur acting so affectionate for a change."
"Yes... but I feel like we're intruding."
"Yes, let's go back inside. I don't think they'll be any trouble," Optimus chuckled. As they went back inside, Rhinox questioned if Optimus would allow her to stay in her current situation. After all, she technically shouldn't really even be friends with the pterodactyl.
"I don't know, Rhinox... I don't know," the Maximal leader replied. "But I will talk to her about it."
-x-
"I guess that was fun," Starfeather said when they finally pulled apart.
"I told you so," Terrorsaur replied, smirking.
"You did not." She narrowed her optics playfully. Then her gaze suddenly became serious. "The others are probably wondering where we are."
"So? We might not get another opportunity like this," he argued and traced his finger from her lips and along the line of her cheek. She closed her optics and let out a contented sigh. "Now, let's enjoy the rest of our night."
She smiled, but it soon turned into a sly one.
"Okay, but first..." She splashed a handful of water at him, giggling. That was what she wanted too. Forget the other Predacons. Forget Megatron. She had all she wanted, right here, right now.
"Hey!" he laughed and splashed her back. She laughed and dove beneath the surface. "No fair!" he called.
She silently bobbed up behind him and shoved him down into the water. He whirled around in the water and flipped her onto her back and tried to swim away. She reached out and grabbed his foot, pulling him back while righting herself and swam ahead of him. He growled and locked his arms around her waist as she passed so that she pulled him along. She twisted over so that they were on their backs and shot for the surface, doing the back-stroke towards the shore. She planned on grounding his head in the sand. That would be funny. He saw what she was doing so let go and followed her to land. She rolled her optics in defeat.
They dragged themselves onto the bank and just laid there, laughing at themselves. They soon ceased and just looked up at the night sky, the stars and moons shining down on them.
Starfeather sighed happily and snuggled closer into Terrorsaur. She closed her optics and smiled when he rubbed her back. Being in his arms felt so much more right than her last boyfriend. A feat that she used to think not possible. When she had been with him, she thought that her world had been completed, that nothing could go wrong, that their relationship would bloom into a perfect marriage. Sadly, he had to move away to go on to college. They had stayed in contact, but his emails and phone calls gradually came to a stop over the year to follow.
When summer began the next year, that's when he called her for the last time. They talked about how school was going and other stuff before he finally said the reason he had called, to officially break up. She hadn't been surprised and she had agreed, also realizing that whatever they had before was gone. It was time to let go and move on. They were still friends and he did text her once in a while. Something told her that this time just might be the one that would last.
Without quite realizing what he was doing, Terrorsaur began to gently stroke her delicately folded wings. Starfeather tensed at the touch on her sensitive extremity, but she found that she didn't mind. When she made a noise, he withdrew his hand. He then began to apologize for doing such a thing so soon. He knew better because he was a flier himself and knew that fliers prided and respected each other's wings. She placed a finger over his lips to silence him.
"Do it again," she pleaded. He smiled with relief and happily went back to smoothing his black fingers over her equally dark feathers. She sighed with contentment and closed her optics again, savoring the sensation.
As the night wore on, Starfeather was beginning to fall asleep. She fought to stay awake, not wanting this night to end. She eventually lost the fight against her own body and was breathing deep and steadily. Terrorsaur saw that she had fallen into recharge. He was feeling quite tired himself so he took her up in his arms and went skyward, careful not to wake her. She sighed deeply in her sleep.
He took them back to the Predacon base. When he went inside, he made sure no one was around. He knew that he and Starfeather would have to try to keep their relationship undercover for Megatron still wanted her. Everyone seemed to be asleep so Terrorsaur continued quietly to her quarters. Fortunately, she had left her door unlocked so it opened when he came near. He carried her over to her bed and gently laid her down.
She groaned and shifted to her side, facing him, and sighed again. He bent over and softly kissed her cheek before leaving her room.
-x-
The Darkside was completely quiet. However, someone was still awake, his eight legs creeping silently down the hall. He reached the door to the ex-human's room and opened it. Once inside, he let the door shut and transformed into robot mode. Starfeather remained in recharge as the spider brought out a device similar to a handheld scanner, only it was slightly larger. He tapped a few buttons on it and suddenly, her optics shot open. She leaped from the berth as if to attack him, but with the touch of a button, she froze as though she had become a statue. Tarantulas cackled to himself as he entered some more commands into the device.
"Let's see if I can make you a little more... obedient," he muttered as he worked. Starfeather suddenly stood at attention, her optics staring at nothing.
"All hail Tarantulas," she said, her voice devoid of any sort of emotion. "What are your orders?"
"Hm, a little too obedient," he hummed and tapped on the device again. She then relaxed into a more casual stance, looking at him expectantly.
"What are your orders, master?" she asked earnestly, wringing her hands as she awaited an instruction. He placed a claw to his chin thoughtfully.
"Almost there," he said and keyed in a command on the device for a final time. She straightened up once again, but began behaving in an uncharacteristically confident manner. She looked at him as if she were analyzing a cut of steak.
"Hey, boss," she said, her tone having become sickeningly sultry. She sauntered up to him, swaying her hips, and draped herself over his frame. She reached over and teased with one of the arachnid forelimbs on his arm. "Got any special tasks for me tonight? Oh, I hope it's something naughty."
"Unfortunately, I don't have anything for you to do for me tonight," Tarantulas replied, very pleased with the results of his test. His covert shell program was a success. Now if he could only get it to work the same for Blackarachnia. She was especially stubborn so he may have to implement some other method of control over her. He had to admit that he missed their nights of heated and violent passion. He had to stop himself from sighing wistfully. He had bigger and better goals to look forward to.
"Aw, too bad," Starfeather said with a pout. "I was hoping to get a little dirty."
"Don't worry, you'll get your chance," he reassured her, tracing the line of her jaw tilting her chin upward to face him. "I have some very naughty plans for you when the time is right. You'll just have to be patient."
"Then I can't wait, boss." She grinned and joined him in a fit of dark laughter. He proceeded to use the device to put her back in a state of recharge. Her body sank to the floor in an unflattering heap.
"Let's delete your memory of the past five cycles," he mumbled as he worked. "And get you back to bed." Once finished, he put the device in his subspace and hoisted her up in his arms. He unceremoniously laid her back on her berth and exited her room.
Starfeather awoke the next morning and went about her day, completely and utterly unaware of what Tarantulas had done to her.
