Life at Autobot outpost Omega1 was bizarre to say the least. As far as Starscream could tell, the social structure wasn't anything like the decepticons. It was warmer, less formal. Jokes were shared, and orders felt like they were asked rather then demanded. It was both a relief and frustrating to the seeker. He had no idea how they managed to get anything done with little to no structure or discipline in their ranks.
Nya however didn't seem to have a problem with this. The air major had integrated into the ranks effortlessly. Quickly earning the trust and favor of everyone at the base. She had even somehow befriended Arcee, a feat that Starscream was both impressed by and jealous of. Though it was hard to see how her results couldn't have been any less fruitful. Nya was hardworking, always had her priorities straight, was openly friendly and easy to talk too. Her mind was both on mission and those she was working with. Though when the missions were over, she had a lighter goofy streak that she let shine through. Especially around the children.
Speaking of the human younglings, Starscream couldn't understand them either. He couldn't understand their purpose in the base. Agent Fowler was their lesion, Nya was awarded the title of Air Commander, and Nurse Darby acted as the human medic. They all had a reason to be there, but the children didn't. Sure, he could see why the youngest could be here if Starscream looked past his age. Rafeal, or Raf, had an impressive amount of skill and knowledge when it came to human computer science. But the other two? No, Starscream couldn't see what ever purpose a rowdy loud femme and a responsible almost adult could serve.
And behaver of the human young! There were many things that they did that Starscream didn't understand. Homework. That was an interesting topic. The fact that human halls of learning sent daily assignments for the students to complete in their homes seemed a little redundant to him. Especially the fact that Nya had to help the young femme Miko with a number of these. If one of the students didn't understand the assignment, wasn't it the teacher's job to educate them? How did they think that if a student who didn't understand their assigned tasks could complete them? Did they even care about their important job of shaping the next generation?! Because the amount of assignments Nya had helped with girl with was getting ridiculous.
And that wasn't even getting into the other things Nya did daily. Leaving the base early in the day only to come back with her venting harsh, and her flesh coated in a shiny sheen. The number of songs she would sing while working on her plane. Odd conversations she would have with Agent Fowler and the children (Starscream had no idea what red and blue pills had to do with anything, and he knew for a fact that it had nothing to do with Nya's seizure medication as those pills were white). And best he forgets the time that he had used his holoform to look around her courters (with her permission!), ending up in her wash rack and finding the waste basket filled with plastic tubes covered in the red substance that humans had in their tubes. Yeah, that was a conversation that Starscream wanted to forget.
So, one could imagen the seeker's shock when his human, all the humans actually, started to act even more strange. Nya began to act more secretive, spending more time with June and in the human settlement. Not to mention she had odder things in her courters; Large carboard boxes, a bucket of green paint, a long black dress hanging in her closet and human cosmetic products. Which, other than some vanilla chap stick, Starscream knew Nya almost never wore.
And it wasn't just his partner, the kids would have less time at the base. Miko would be asking Nya about something being ready, yet. Raf, talked about how his family had put skeletons in their yard, (A fact that both greatly disturbed and intrigued Starscream, as how could a 12-year-old's family obtain fully decomposed cadavers?). And Jack began complaining about some kind of human fuel at his place of work so complex to make and popular with the locals that was driving him crazy.
It was a few days later, when Starscream finally got his answer to all the strange happenings. After a surprising goodnight of recharge, and a slow uneventful day, he walked into the main area of the base. Glancing over to the human platforms, he froze in his tracks.
Nya was busy decorated the human common area, but that wasn't what was odd about her. She was clothed in the long black dress, the trim on the long sleeves sparkled as she moved and skirt hugged all her curves perfectly. Her hair was twice as long, and colored jet black, causing a sharp contrast with her lips and claws that were painted the brightest of reds. Silver and black paint were delicately styled around her eyes, and somehow her skin appeared at least three shades paler.
What was going on? She suddenly looked up from her work. Her eyes were still the same, thank primus.
"Hey, Scream," She flashed her signature smile, his optics widened in horror. In the folds of her smile were two long sharp fangs.
"Are you okay?" Nya asked.
Starscream couldn't answer, he just looked on in abject horror.
Smokescreen suddenly came down the hall happily humming to himself (a recent and annoying habit the youngling had developed).
"Hey, everyo-" Smokescreen started but his voice box glitched to a halt, "Wow, Nya what's with the get up?" He asked, clearly proud of using his newly learned human slang.
"You like it?" she said, flashing her fangs in a polished smile.
"What happened to your dente?" Starscream asked.
"My what?" Nya asked.
"Your -oh for primus's sake- your teeth?!" Starscream nearly screeched.
"Nothing why?" Nya said looking confused.
"Forgive me for not being specific before, but I thought that human teeth had already reached maturity by your age. How did you grow…those?" he queried.
"You mean the fangs? Starscream, they're fake," She explained.
"Why would you…?" The seeker didn't get to finish, as the sound of cybertronians mimicking earth vehicle engines rang through the wall of the autobot base. The children were here.
Bulkhead stopped just before the stairs to the human platforms. His door opened imminently opened and Miko leaped out, her excitement on a much higher level than usual (if that was possible). The girl ran up to Nya shrieking "Is it ready?! Is it ready?!" to which Nya nodded and pointed towards her quarters. The boys were much calmer with their entrances, but the excitement of something was still evident on their faces.
"So, are either of you going to tell us what's going on with Miko? Or, are we going to have to guess?" Arcee asked switched herself to robot mode.
"Wait, you don't know?" Jack asked.
"Know what?" Bulkhead asked.
All of the humans shared a glance, before saying in unison, "It's Halloween."
Yep. That didn't help at all. The word 'Halloween' didn't mean anything to the silver seeker and it was pretty clear that none of his new allies knew what it meant either.
"What?" Starscream asked.
"What's Halloween?" Bulkhead said.
Bumblebee chirped curiously.
"It's an earth holiday," Raf said.
"Yeah, the whole town has been preparing for it for the past three weeks. You haven't noticed?" Jack chimed in.
"Is that all the decorations in town were for?" Bulkhead asked.
"Yep," Raf replied.
"Holiday?" Starscream murmured.
Holidays, were a rarity on Cybertron. Now, add the war with all its fighting, and the loss of the planet, they were practically non-existent. There's just not that many things to celebrate when everyone's fighting.
"Sweet, today's a holiday?! So, what are we celebrating?" Smokescreen nearly shouted now completely invested into the conversation.
"All things spooky and stuffed with sugar," Nya said, laying things that looked kind of like green paint on the table in the children's lounge, "Halloween, is sort of a day of self-expression, and dead people. It's the time of the year were being scared is considered a good thing."
"It's also a night of fun," Raf chimed in, "Haunted houses, corn mazes, and trick-or-treating."
"Trick-or-treating?" Starscream repeated, the word sounding strange in his intake.
"It's the main shtick of Halloween," Nya started, "Children dress up in costumes and go from house to house in their neighborhood asking for candy."
"Why?" Bulkhead asked.
"Cause it's fun," Jack said.
"But why wear costumes? And couldn't the children taking candy be considered stealing?" Starscream asked.
Nya raised a darkened eyebrow at him, "I'm going to answer you backwards here, Scream. No, it is not stealing cause the kids are asking-"
"Couldn't that still be considered trespassing?" Starscream interjected.
"I wasn't finished," Nya snapped.
"Apologizes," Starscream murmured ignoring the surprise of the other autobots at him apologizing.
"Anyway, the costumes were once used to hid from spririts. Though now-a-days, costumes are more of an away of self-expression," the air major explained, "Speaking of costumes, Raf yours is in my room, and Jack, I got your monster make up ready."
Both human children quickly moved with Nya's words. Raf dashing off towards Nya's courters, and Jack joining her on the couch.
"You have done this before right?" Jack asked as he sat down.
"Few times, a couple years ago," She chuckled nervously, "So, we'll see how I do."
"Doing what?" Arcee, said walking up to the plat from.
"Nya's turning me into a zombie," Jack said, as Nya stared paining his face a sickly green.
"What's a zombie?" Starscream and Smokescreen said in unison.
"You don't know what a zombie is?" Bulkhead asked.
"They're new here, give them a break," Nya said, "A Zombie is and undead being."
"Undead? What does undead mean?" Smokescreen said completely confused.
"It means dying then coming back as a rotting corpse," Nya said.
"Oh…" Smokescreen said, still completely confused.
"So, you mean like what I did to...Skyquake…" Starscream cleared his vents. The room was now uncomfortably silent.
Nya stared for a moment before shaking her head and returning to Jack's make up, "I don't want to know. But Scream, if you planning on practicing necromancy again, invite me."
"Of course…" Starscream eyed her worryingly.
"So, if Jack's costume is a zombie, is what you're wearing your costume, Nya?" Bulkhead asked.
"Yep, I'm a vampire," The human woman answered.
"A what?" Starscream asked.
"Another type of undead human, just vampires are smarter, burn in sunlight, and suck blood through the fangs in their mouths," Nya explained.
Starscream raised an optic ridge.
"Why would they need to suck blood?" The seeker asked.
"For food," Nya answered nonchalantly, much to the seeker's newfound terror. The things humans came up with.
"So, how do these help you hide from spirits?" Smokescreen asked.
"Oh, they don't," Nya shrugged, "Not anymore at least."
"Then why did you say it was to hide from spirits?" Starscream asked.
"Because a long time ago, for us humans, it was believed that on October 31, which is today, that the line between life and death blurred allowing the dead to cross over into our world. In order to keep themselves safe humans used to walk around disgusted as spirits and leave offerings for them," She explained.
"And those traditions morphed over time into, a night of candy and costumes?" Starscream muttered. Finding this is be a quite immature holiday, but he kept his intake shut as Nya seemed to enjoy it.
"Yep!" The air major chirped.
Miko suddenly ran out from Nya's courters dressed in boxes? The young human femme had a large box covering her torso, multiple smaller boxes on her limbs, and an odd-looking mask on her face, all of which was either painted metallic green, grey, or black.
"How you like it Bulk! I'm you!" Miko shouted excitedly.
The wreaker's optics lit up with sudden pride and a large smile split his faceplate open, "You look great Miko!"
"And this is isn't the best part!" Miko shouted.
The teenaged femme folded down and the costume folded around her form the shape of a car! A car that mirrored Bulkhead's very alt-mode. Granted it wasn't nearly as complex as a cybertronian's transformation but it was still an impressive costume for being made of cardboard.
"Whoa-ho-whoa!" Bulkhead exclaimed.
"Nya figured it out!" Miko said getting back to her feet.
Starscream, internally swelled with pride knowing what his human's creative mind was capable of.
The Air Major shrugged, "It was nothing." Humble as ever.
"So, if your me. Jack's a zombie. Then what is Raf?" Bulkhead spoke up.
Too which the youngest of the humans answered by walking out of Nya's courters. The young boy was wrapped up in what looked like hundreds of human medical patches, with quite a few of them coming loose. The long white bands wrapped around his torso, limbs, and pars of his face. Okay, this was the most puzzling costume of the bunch, was the boy a critically wounded individual?
And it was clear that the seeker wasn't the only one whom was confused, as Bumblebee tilted his helm to the side, and whirred curiously.
"Uhm, Raf? What are you?" Smokescreen said slowly.
"A mummy so stressed he's becoming unraveled," The boy grumbled, while trying to tighten some of the wraps on his arm.
"You're a mother?" Starscream blurted out before he could stop himself.
Nya barked a laugh, "No, mummy, not Mommy."
"Pardon me but what's the difference?" The seeker said.
"Well, first the vowels. Second, Mommy is a term that offspring call their mother. A mummy, is a human corpse that has had it's internal organs ripped out, the rest of the body preserved in oils, and then wrapped up in bandages," Nya said.
"Is there any other thing you do in this holiday, besides look like dead things?" Arcee said with optics wide, and a shaking helm.
"Well, there is pumpkin carving," Jack said.
"Pumpkin what?" Smokescreen said.
"What's a pumpkin?" Starscream chimed.
Bumblebee chirped confusedly.
"Pumpkins are a large round orange fruit," Raf said still trying to tighten his bandages.
"You mean those are the weird orange things that people have been putting on their porches?" Arcee asked.
"Yep. We hollow them out, carve faces in them, and put a candle inside. Turning them into Jack-o-lanterns," Jack said.
"Alright," Nya said pulling her tongue ack into her mouth, "Jack you're all good, your shirt and headband are in my room."
The eldest teenager nodded, and got up with his finished monster make up to walk into the Nya's courters.
"Speaking of pumpkin carving, June should be here any time with her pick from the nearby pumpkin patch," Nya said, cleaning up the monster make up.
And as if on que, the sound of an engine rang through the walls of the base once again. Everyone turned towards the pale tan car driving into the outpost with mildly shocked expressions.
Miko turned to Nya with wide eyes, "Do you have magic powers?!"
"A human with precognitive powers living with giant alien robots? That sounds like something out of someone's fanfiction. No, Miko I don't," Nya said, playfully rolling her eyes.
There were grunts coming from the newly arriving car, as Nurse Darby emerged from her vehicle. Okay this was the most bizarre outfit, servos down. The human medic was wearing a snugly fitting, black, and royal blur body suit, large floppy yellow shoes, that clearly made it difficult to walk, and the strangest head gear that Starscream had ever seen. He could hardly recognize the poor human medic.
"June! You're a scuba diver! You look great!" Nya said, walking down the stairs towards the other elder human female.
"We had a costume constant at the hospital. Good to know that my first place wasn't a fluke!" June said back before chuckling, "Could you help me with the pumpkin? It's in the trunk."
"It wouldn't be in my good conscious if I didn't help you. You can barely walk with those flippers on. How did you even drive here?" Nya said.
"Praying," Both humans shared a laugh.
Starscream took note of this interaction. Nurse Darby and Nya had easily grown close, but it didn't start out that way. At first the elder female was overly concerned with the air major's health, and had actively objected at the idea of Nya flying for the autobot's as their air commander, but over time Nya had managed to reassure the worrying medic that she could care for herself, and even earned her friendship. After that the two had gotten along swimmingly.
Starscream hypothesized that was because the two were quite similar, both grown humans (Of course Nya was quite a few years younger), both female, and Nya didn't really have anyone else human to befriend. Starscream knew that if there was another seeker (other than Nya or himself), he would actively try to behind them, so he could understand why Nya befriended the only other grown female around. It was familiar, something similar to herself, something she could find comfort in.
Nya managed to get the quite large fruit out of the trunk of the car and onto some sheets of newspaper on the human's table. Nurse Darby soon joined the human seeker and other children, though it took her a few kliks as she had to walked up the stairs backwards as her flippers won't let her use them normally. Jack joined them by the time his mother did, now dressed up with in a red, bloodied t-shirt, and what looked like a blood-stained knife going through his head. Arcee's look of horror and then relief after finding out it was a headband and not actually going through the boy's skull was quite amusing.
"Alright, I'm going to get carving supplies, you guys, map out a pattern on the pumpkin," Nya said getting up and walking towards her courters. Her black dress's hem flowing behind her as she seemed to glide across the floor.
The children spent the next few minutes arguing over what kind of face they should carve into the pumpkin. Raf wanted to go with a classic Halloween face (whatever that was), and Miko wanted to carve bulkhead's face into it. While Jack just stuck to the side lines, trying to suggest alternatives. But eventually they decided on the autobot insignia, and the symbol was sloppily drawn on the smooth surface of the pumpkin.
Nya returned with a large bowl, many spoons, and a comically large knife, that made Starscream's optics widened with sudden worry. All of the ways this could go wrong were running through his processor, but he knew better then to make his worry evident to the human femme. He had underestimated the her far too many times in the past.
The Air major placed the knife next to the pumpkin, and licked her lips, "Okay let's see if I can carve this face." She picked up the knife.
"Nya be careful. You already have one scar on your face you don't need a second," Nurse Darby warned.
"Don't worry June, I've done this once. About a decade ago…OKAY PUMPKIN IT'S TIME FOR YOUR LOBOTOMY!" Nya plunged the Knife into the top of the pumpkin.
"Oh, my God, Nya," June said trying not to laugh.
A/N:
Happy Halloween!
I stayed up last night finishing this for y'all! I was wondering what I could do for a Halloween special, and this just popped into my mind, I had been wanting to do Nya nad Starscream at this holiday for a while now. I hope y'all enjoyed.
The transforming transformers costumes do actually exist! You can find clips of them all over the internet. And I saw them and thought, yep Miko would do this.
Once again, I am open to prompts or one-shot suggestion for "Tales of the Barn (and Base)". Leave your ideas in the comments/reviews.
And yeah, Starscream found Nya's Tampons, and no I won't be writing that conversation so don't even ask.