Nya froze, she was not expecting that question. She continued to push the shopping cart as she and Starscream's holoform, walked through the store, but her expression of pure shock was fixated on his false face.

"What?" Nya said, "Can you repeat that?"

"Do I really need too?" Starscream raised a fake brow.

"Humor me."

"Fine. What is a wife?"

Nya felt her face flush with sudden shock? Embarrassment? Amusement? She couldn't tell, but she did hope that her face wasn't actually blushing.

Nya swallowed, "Uhm…You don't know what that word is?" she chuckled awkwardly.

"No," Starscream shook his holoform's head.

"Where did you hear that word?"

"The elderly humans we chatted with assumed that you were my wife. I was wondering what the meaning of that word was. Is it vulgar?"

Nya's eyes went wide, and she quickly said, "No, no! It's not vulgar. Not vulgar at all."

"Then what is triggering your discomfort?"

Nya sighed, "Do you really not know what it means?"

"No."

Nya took a deep breath, "Okay, how to explain this? Uhm, a wife is a special type of human relationship with female companion."

"So you are my wife?"

"No, no. I am not."

"You are a female human companion. Doesn't that make you, my wife?"

"No, it does not. There are certain ceremonies and legal qualifications, in order to become husband and wife."

"Husband?"

"The male equivalent to a wife. You those folks probably thought you were my husband. But you aren't."

"Am I not a special male companion? Just because I'm not human."

"No, this has nothing to do with your species. You are a close friend, but you are not my husband."

"Because we haven't gone through the ceremonies, and legal scrap?"

"Yes, but we also don't have that kind of relationship."

"What kind of relationship is necessary for the titles?"

Nya sighed, she had to shoot straight. She stopped walking, and glanced around making sure that there weren't any small children or crazy parents nearby. She looked Starscream dead in his eyes made of hard light.

"Do you want to mate with me?" She said flatly.

"What?!" Starscream nearly shouted, "Absolutely not! Why would you even suggest that? There isn't even a chance that we could procreate!"

The flustered look on his holoform's face nearly made Nya laugh. It was clear he knew the meaning behind that term.

Nya smirked, "You wanted a straight answer. Husband and wife, are terms used for mated pairs of humans."

A looked realization came across his face, "You mean that…They thought…"

Nya nodded, "Yes, that sweet old couple thought we were mates."

Starscream didn't answer, he only had a face of utter horror.

"Hey, human marriage isn't only…that."

"Marriage?"

"Marriage; the relationship between a married couple."

"So, is this similar to conjunx endura?" Starscream ran a false hand over his fake face.

"If that's what you call, spouses, or partners with a romantic relationship, then yes."

"So, you two choose each for the purpose of…?"

"Well, that's not the only factor in choosing a life partner for us. There's personality, life goals, interests, and personal values."

"You're making this sound quite complicated."

"Yeah, human love usually is. It can take years for people to find the right match. Going through the dating, the engagement and then the wedding. And some folks do those too fast and end up with the wrong people."

"So, Dating? I take it this is the stage when they are just getting to know each other?"

"Correct."

"What of the engagement and wedding? I've never heard of those terms."

"Well, the engagement happens when a dating couple decides they want to get married. That usually consists of one partner, it's usually a guy but sometimes girls do it, offering the other a ring. If they except it then that means they engaged to be married."

"What purpose does the ring serve?"

"Well, it's mostly the jewelry industry trying to make more money. But it's a small ring that goes around a finger, or digit, that's usually made of rare metals and decorated with precious stones."

Starscream nodded, taking in this information, "So what of that wedding. Is that your version of the bonding ceremony?"

"Well, that is where, people do tend to finalize the marriage. It's basically this big celebration, that starts with the ceremony, where the couple exchanges rings and promises to love, honor and cherish one another till death do they part. Then comes the reception, it's a big a party with drinks, dancing and cake."

"How public is this bonding ceremony?" Starscream raised a brow

"That depend on how much of a people person you are. But most invite their close friends and family. Is that not how Cybertronian weddings work?"

"No, it's usually a small private affair."

"I think I would've preferred to do that. You speak from experience?"

"Primus, no. I had enough trouble with my trine. I didn't need to add a 'spouse' to that."

"There you go learning new words."

"What about you?"

"What about me, what?"

"Do you have a husband? Or wife?"

"If I did, scream, they would be at the base."

"So, that's a no then."

"Yep, I'm a single pringle right now, but I almost did. He passed away three months before the wedding."

"I'm sorry," Starscream looked away, he knew better then to pry at Nya's past when it came to those she lost. He did feel sympathy for her loss, but for some reason the thought of her as some else's wife, didn't sit right with him.

"It's fine. It's been sometime. But I don't think I'll find anyone else, and I'm okay with that," She took a deep breath, "Come on, we need to get to checkout before this stuff goes bad."

A/N:

Yeah, okay, I didn't think I would write this, but someone wanted it and I needed a distraction.

Hope y'all enjoyed.