Starscream watched as Nya growled at the newest wet dirt container. Its rim had suddenly flown off of it, meaning that Nya would have to start over. The little interaction was quite amusing. His faceplate twisted into smile at the glare she gave to the now ruined lump of mud. She sighed and started to reformed the wet dirt, with something small and slimy sticking out of her intake.
He raised an optic ridge, "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" Nya said, pulling away from her work and the strange slimy thing back into her intake.
"Stick out that slimy thing, when you work. Why do you do that?"
One of her fuzzy optic ridges raised. The expression, that formed on her fleshy faceplate was one of confusion, and a hint of an amusement. It was clear to Starscream that he would need to elaborate.
He pointed to his own intake, "Why do you stick out that…thing…in your intake?"
"You mean my tongue?" Nya asked.
"If that is what the slimy thing you keep in there, then yes. Why do you stick out your…tongue…while you work?"
She shrugged, "Habit, I guess. I don't really think about it when it happens. I've always done that when I'm focusing on something. Just a quirk."
"Do other humans do that?" Starscream asked. He had been trying to learn more human body language since what had happened with MECH, so it wouldn't be so hard for humans to fool him if the time came to work with the species again. Nya was just an unexpected study case.
"Some might, some might not. It all depends on the person," Nya answered, returning to her work.
Great, that was something he had to log away. Humans and their needlessly complicated languages. He tried not to roll his optics, knowing that Nya would lecture him on the topics of 'accepting other lifeforms', 'all creatures are different' and 'people will probably find that offensive' again.
A sudden drum of loud crashing noise from above, made both pilot, and seeker, jump slightly. Starscream had learned about this noise from experience, thunder. He knew that it commonly came with this planet's storms. Storms that didn't rain acid, one of positives of this planet in his opinion. So, unless he was struck by lightning, there was nothing he really had to worry about. Though, the thunder did seem to worry the human in the barn.
Nya had rushed from her seat and over to the barn's door, "Oh, no," she muttered, while peaking her head outside.
"Is there a problem?" Starscream ask watching her run back into the barn, "It's just rain. I thought that humans were waterproof."
"We are! But that's not why I'm worrying," she said as she messily searched through the dusty pile of junk that sat in the back corner of the barn.
"What are you looking for?"
"A tarp."
"Why would you need one right now?"
"I need it to put on the roof. Before the rain comes. So, it isn't pouring on us," Nya moved some of the tools aside.
"Isn't that the purpose of the roof?" he raised an optic ridge.
"Well, it used to be, but this thing is so old that, the roof not couldn't take a light a sprinkle. Much less a downpour. The tarp makes it easier on the poor thing," The clatter of her resuming her search rang through out the barn.
"Are you certain that you should be climbing up there?" Starscream said.
Nya stopped, turned around, and glared at him with an unamused face, "My brain and heart may be screwed up but my legs and arms aren't shot. So, I'm going to use them."
Starscream rolled his optics. Not caring at this point if she went on lecturing him, though thankfully, she just returned to the task at hand. Couldn't she see that his concern for her health had a valid reason. How would he pay back his dept to her if she was offline?
*Achoo!*
Starscream jumped. What was that?! He looked over to Nya about ask if she had heard the sound, only to see her helm jerk suddenly, and the same sound exploded out of her. He froze, just staring at the small human female, his intake agape and optics wide. Nya sniffed, and shuttered her organic optics a few times, before she looked over to him.
"What?" She asked.
"Are you alright?" He said, quickly shaking off his shock which was now replaced with confusion and concern.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She asked confused.
"Your face plate just exploded!" he blurted out.
Nya stared at him for a moment, before her face crumbled, and she burst out laughing. Her fit of giggles became so strong that, tears started to leak out of her. She had to lean over, one hand slapping her leg and the other cradling her stomach.
Starscream's confusion only grew by her reaction. What was so humorous about this situation?
"I can't breathe," Nya managed to say through her fit of giggles.
"You're asphyxiating?!" Starscream shrieked. He didn't know much about organics but he knew that they needed to absorb their atmosphere in order to survive.
His panic only succussed in making Nya laugh harder. Eventually making her fall to the ground in a fit of high-pitched cackles. Though, Nya did try to compose herself before the seeker got himself into a frenzy.
"No, no…don't worry. Its…from…laughing to…hard," Nya managed to say through her giggling, she took a deep breath, "Oh, my gosh I'm crying," she whipped the lubricate that was forming in her optics.
Starscream was beyond confused. He had made her cry, nearly suffocated her, and yet she was smiling?! He might as well give up trying to understand her.
She coughed, "Oh! That's the funniest thing I've heard in years!" Nya exclaimed.
"What?" Starscream said.
"You saying that a sneeze was my face blowing up."
"A what?"
"A sneeze, it's basically a human reflex that helps clears our airways of debris. In this case, all the dust that had built up on the tarp."
"So, your faceplate exploding is normal?"
"We don't call it that, but yes."
Starscream just turned away, shaking his helm disbelievingly. He didn't even want to think what your faceplate exploding felt like.
A/N:
I sneezed twice while writing this. Should I be concerned?
And yes, Nya did eventually get the tarp on the roof.