Hello, my dear readers! Sorry this is so late, but it's here now.

Thank you to my reviewers; KEZZ 1, lilykitty99, Cinematronix, SoulusPrimeLightblast, and CherryVanillaCoke.

Chapter 21

It was one thing for Sideswipe to ask Erin to join him for monitor duty, it was another entirely when Sunstreaker asked her.

Erin had just laid down for some precious sleep when a message popped up on her data pad from Sunstreaker.

-In monitor room, come if you want.-

To say it was unexpected was an understatement. Usually, if the twins wanted her to come by, Sideswipe would be the one to message her. Or he'd just randomly pop up and grab her, literally.

Kidnapping had become a common occurrence on the base, so no one paid any attention when Sideswipe swooped in, seized her, and disappeared with the roar of his engine cutting out Erin's curses.

Since Erin thought of it, Sunstreaker had never actually sent any kind of communication to her data pad before. On top of that, with his twin having just gotten off of monitor duty himself, Sideswipe would be asleep, or close to it. So Sunstreaker just wanted her to be there. Why? She'd only been alone with him a handful of times. The first of which was when he threatened her. Although last time was interesting. Did he just want to hang out? Erin had a suspicion he secretly enjoyed their time together, watching his twin play video games with her.

She could just say no; she was, after all, already in bed. She had a decent excuse. But something about turning the mech down seemed wrong.

-I'll be there in 20.-

She crawled out of bed, minding her sore body, and changed into something more presentable. Squaring herself away, she strode out on the now familiar path to the monitor room.

It was a bit of a walk between the barracks and the hanger inhabited by the 'bots. But the night was cool and the stars added a sense of serenity. The sky was mostly clear, only a few black masses shrouding the navy sky. The waning moon provided enough light to guide Erin on a safe path. If she strained her ears, she could hear the calm waves of the ocean. Erin had an odd desire to go swimming. At such a late hour, no one would be by the beach, she could have it all to herself. But, maybe next time. She already had a commitment to keep.

The soldier continued on, entering the main hanger where Sunstreaker would be, passing the still open hole from her E-blade. Erin passively hoped the yellow mech didn't try to take it again. She was quite fond of the weapon and kept it close.

As Erin rounded the corner towards the M.R., she heard the distinctive footsteps of a Cybertronian approach.

"Specialist Brook." The voice was not quite a greeting or recognition of presence. It was not bred in surprise either. There was something else, well controlled, hidden in his tone.

Erin looked up to her new hallway companion. "Good evening Prowl."

The mech didn't so much as nod in recognition. His optics, lighter than usual, bore into her. "What would you be doing here at such a late hour?" he questioned.

Erin got the feeling he was looking for a report, more so than a simple courteous greeting. She stood straight, shoulders back. "Sunstreaker asked that meet him in the monitor room. He didn't give a reason."

Prowl's optics dimmed, no doubt a sign he was comming Sunstreaker for confirmation. As his optics brightened, his faceplates displayed genuine surprise. It seemed he thought the warrior's request for companionship was just as odd as Erin thought.

"Well, have nice evening Specialist Brook." He dismissed himself politely, turning on his heels and left the same way he came.

It was so sudden, the Specialist barely had time to process what just happened. Why was everyone acting so oddly that night?

Sunstreaker sat as comfortably as he could in the M.R chair. His focus was on one screen in particular. It displayed the squishy heading down the hallway to meet him. Honestly, he wasn't even sure what prompted him to request her presence. Sideswipe would have stayed with him, had he asked. His twin wouldn't get much rest with his other half being awake anyway. In fact, the squishy should be sleeping as well, but he hadn't even considered it until after he messaged her. She should have just said 'no' and gone into recharge. Instead, she headed straight over, until Prowl intercepted her.

The SIC had commed him, asking if he really invited her over, as if it was unimaginable. Sunstreaker couldn't get himself to admit asking a human to hang out with him, but he did admit she was heading over to him. He would have preferred no one knew. It's not that he was embarrassed, of course not. It just wasn't anyone's fragging business.

After that, he watched the squishy's progress on the monitor. Any sign of exhaustion she should of displayed was absent. She was almost there. He had half a thought to go meet her, but he quickly quelled it. She was a mature femme. She didn't need an escort. Right as he finished that thought, he saw Erin stop from yet another interruption. This time, it was another human. A male, from what the yellow warrior could tell. He looked vaguely familiar, but Sunstreaker didn't exactly know the names or faces of most of the fleshies on base. With the system they had in place, he couldn't hear what they were saying, the monitoring equipment was too close to the briefing room so no outside recording equipment was allowed. However, he could read their body language. The squishy had her arms crossed, while her face wasn't visible, her tapping foot told Sunstreaker she was not amused by whatever her fellow human was saying.

Meanwhile the male stood casually, one hand in a pocket, a cocky grin on his face. He stepped close to her, free hand reaching out. The squishy didn't move as he rested a hand on her back, but she remained rigid. The male's flirtations, quite obviously, were unreciprocated.

A small growl emanated from Sunstreaker's vocalizer as he watched the squishy push the male's hand off only for him to peruse further. She didn't need this fleshy harassing her.

Without fully considering his actions, Sunstreaker stood from his seat and stepped out, only a short hallway and a turn from the squishy. Before he rounded the corner, he could make out what they were saying.

"Come on, Sweet, just one beer. Don't leave a guy hanging."

Erin's tone remained collected. "I don't think it's a beer you're looking for." A hint of concern appeared in her voice, "What's up with you, Franky? This isn't like you."

"I just want to hang out. What else could be so important at this hour?"

That was Sunstreaker's que to step out. "Squishy, what's taking you so long?" he called, Optics instantly narrowing on his partner's harasser.

The male's back went rigid at the sound of the mech's voice. Every human knew the sound of it. Frozen in his spot, he didn't turn as Sunstreaker approached from behind.

The squishy gave him a knowing frown and a nod of acknowledgement before turning back to the male. "I'm meeting with Sunstreaker." She walked straight up to him, practically standing under him. "Unless you have a problem with that?" Her arms crossed, miming Sunstreaker's own stance.

The male jumped back, hands waving frantically through the air. "Nope, absolutely not. No problem here! You two have fun… whatever you're doing." His hands dropped to his sides as Sunstreaker let out an almost imperceptible growl. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna go."

Sunstreaker closely watched the male's retreat until he and the squishy were finally alone.

She turned to him, slight smile on her face. "You came right on time."

His optics narrowed down at her as he stepped back from over her. "That fleshy been bothering you lately?"

She shook her head, noting the hint of aggression in his tone. "No, he's usually not like that. Sure, he's a bit of a flirt, but I don't know why he was acting so oddly." Her eyes widened with a hint of realization. "Now that I think of it, I'm not even sure what he was doing here. His tasks don't coincide directly with that of the autobots, and he's terrified of you guys." She placed a finger on her lips as she thought about the situation.

Sunstreaker couldn't have cared any less about the affairs of humans. "Just let me know next time, alright?"

The squishy focused back on the mech. "Thanks… Sunstreaker. It's nice to know you've got my back."

"Yeah, whatever." He grumbled, turning away, "Come on, I have to get back."

The squishy walked so quietly behind, Sunstreaker had to turn and check whether she was following.

When they got to the monitor room and Sunstreaker settled down, it became apparent to him that he had no idea what to do with her. Asking her to join him was so spur of the moment, he hadn't thought it through.

He watched her climb the autobot-sized chair and subsequently jump onto the textbaord. After the squishy settled herself, an awkward silence started. It was apparent that she was expecting him to speak, given that he had invited her, but he had no idea what to say. He could only pretend to be focusing on the monitors for so long.

Out of habit, his digits sated to trace invisible images over the purple-tinted textboard.

The squishy quickly caught on to the subtle movements. She silently tracked his motions, greyish eyes narrowing as the unseen image became more clear.

"What are you thinking about?" she motioned towards the nonexistent canvas.

The question piqued his interest. The squishy had already proven her analytical and comprehension skills. Perhaps he could test her a bit. "What do you think?"

"Is it a building of some type?" the question was oddly innocent, almost adolescent in its delivery. However, her eyes were focused, deciphering what she tracked.

Sunstreaker's lip plates quirked over so slightly. "How can you tell?"

"You are using straight lines, so it's something manufactured." She explained.

"Not bad. What else can you tell?" he pushed.

She paused, looking up at him. "I'm not sure."

"What about how the strokes were made?" Sunstreaker prompted.

"Well, the vertical ones are long while the horizontal ones are short, so it's likely some kind of skyscraper."

He sighed, that's really the best she could do? "That's not what I mean."

"Care to explain?" the squishy quirked her brow.

Instead, he posed the question differently. "What is the intention behind each action in creating the image?"

"To create it?" she said flatly.

"Figures, you can only see so far." He scoffed.

Her eyes softened, looking taken aback. "I'm sorry? Did I say something offensive?"

"Just forget it." The warrior grunted.

"But, wait." She waved his attention back. "I don't understand what you mean, but maybe if you could explain it to me-"

"Don't bother. Hardly anyone understands it." No one cares about art any way. The squishy could analyze, but she put no emotion into her considerations. She'd never understand it.

"If you give me a chance, maybe I could as well." If there was one thing Sunstreaker could describe about his human partner, it would be her uncanny determination.

He looked down at her, holding the gaze in her eyes. He saw curiosity. Sort of. It was more like the need to know. She was always asking questions, as if one of the answers she received would one day save her life. She respected information. Sunstreaker vented inwardly. "Consider the emotion of the artist while he produces a piece. Each brushstroke has a purpose, more than just creating an image."

"But isn't the point of art to make a picture?" she asked plainly.

"Of course not!" he burst, offended by the mere thought of it. He put far more into his art than just making a picture. "There's a difference between simply painting or drawing and art."

Her brows furrowed in her lack of comprehension. "And that is?" she prompted.

"Figure it out yourself." He waved her off, trying to get off the topic before he blew a fuse. He asked her to be there for company, not to yell at her.

The squishy seemed to take the hint and let the subject drop.

Even with the personal topic away, conversation was still difficult between them without Sideswipe present. They both seemed to search for things to say to the other. Sunstreaker's tendency to give short answers didn't help. But the squishy seemed determine to ask more than tell. When Sunstreaker pointed it out, the squishy apologized and recommended a game Sideswipe introduced when he did monitor duty in her company. They each got a turn to ask a question. After that, things got less awkward and conversation flowed more easily.

"How exactly did you arrive on earth?" the squishy asked, already appearing more relaxed, legs crossed and head cocked to the side.

"Sides and I were launched in stasis landing armor." He explained upon seeing her confused stare, "It's a thin 'smart' armor that coats our entire frames. It's programed with a meteor-like alt mode that can use gravity pulses to move us through space. The drawback is that it knocked us into stasis. We could only be woken up after reaching our destination, coming across a threat, or time wearing away at the armor."

"So that's what the whole falling in a meteor thing came about." She smiled.

"Yeah," he grinned back, "My turn, squishy. When did you start your combat training?" Sunstreaker knew that humans, like Cybertronians before the war, tended to live peaceful, civilian lifestyles. But a fleshy with that much skill requires early exposure.

She scowled playfully, "That's a boring one. I joined JROTC in high school, four years ago. But I took military style self-defense classes since I was six, sixteen years ago."

He hummed at that. "The mechs on this base all have at least five vorns combat experience and you still hold up to them."

"How did you get your start?" she prodded.

He paused to consider the question. His and Sides' pasts certainly weren't secrets from the 'bots on base. In fact, it was a point of shame for them. Gladiators weren't exactly considered trustworthy, or just worthy. He'd assumed Ironhide had shared their nefarious past with her. "We learned to fight on the streets, for defense at first."

She gave him a knowing frown. "Bad neighborhood?"

"The worst." He conceded.

"What did you mean by 'at first'?" she waved two fingers on each hand up and down. Sunstreaker knew it was some kind of physical communication humans used, but he couldn't remember what it meant.

She shook his helm. "You've already asked two questions, now it's my turn."

"Fine," she groused quietly, "shoot."

"What?" Sunstreaker felt a bit taken aback. What did she want him to do?

"Shoot, it means 'go ahead'." She explained quickly noticing the confusion.

His optic ridges furrowed. "You humans are so weird."

"By the way," she added, "I count that as a question, so you have one more and we're even."

"Frag it, squishy." The warrior cursed, still taking a moment to glance at the monitor screens.

"Ask away." She said in a sing song voice.

"Fine!" he thought about what to ask her. She deflected most of the personal questions he sent her way, but with so little that he knew about her past, his curiosity was swelling. "You said you were raised by caretakers. Were you in a detention center or something?" The question sounded more private than it was. In reality, he just wanted to know if she was a trouble maker growing up.

To her credit, the squishy barely blinked at the personal nature to the question. "No, it was a regular foster home. My parents gave me up after I was born so I spent most of my life there."

Sunstreaker's optics widened. "What do you mean they gave you up?" he hissed.

"That's your third question, it's my turn again." She quickly turned away from the subject.

"Explain." He replied shortly.

The squishy paused, looking up into his intense optics. He was not playing around. Her eyes turned sad. "All I know is that my parents, whomever they were, left me outside a firehouse. I don't know why."

Sunstreaker already hated humanity as a whole, but the fact that members of the species seemed willing to abandon their creation… it was unthinkable. Creators sacrificed everything for their sparklings. It was in their base coding.

The squishy seemed to take noticed of his inner seething, and raised her hands, trying to placate him. "It's ok, Sunstreaker. I'm not upset about it. For all I know, my mother could have left me for my own safety. Maybe her home life was unstable and she knew it was best that someone else took care of me. I was dropped near publicly trusted people, so she must have cared on some level."

"But they weren't best, the ones who took you!" he'd lost some sense of control, shouting at the victim over the wrongs done to her. "Sideswipe told me what you said about them, how they treated you. It didn't even take that for me to know someone fragged you up at some point!"

Her wide eyes narrowed. "I'm the fragged up one? Take a look in the mirror lately? I don't boil over for no reason!"

"You're reason enough!" he shouted. The squishy recoiled at his admission, but Sunstreaker wasn't done. "When someone walks over you, you are supposed to get mad. You should be furious over the wrongs done to you! When someone threatens, it's your job to get mad. And when someone does it to your friends, it's your job to protect them!"

There was a pregnant silence before the squishy's lips quirked slightly. "Did Sideswipe say you remind me of someone?"

"Yeah." He sat back down, not knowing when he left his chair to begin with. "You're sister." He whispered, knowing of the sensitivity of the subject.

"Thanks." Her head lowered so he couldn't see her expression that well. "It's nice to hear sometimes."

Sunstreaker didn't know what to say. She's dead, move on? Sorry for your loss? Don't compare me to a fragging fleshy? Every option was either insensitive or wouldn't sound genuine. Sideswipe would know what to say. He wouldn't have yelled at her twice already.

The squishy leaned back, all signs of hostility lost. "So, you do think of us as friends?" she asked innocently.

Sunstreaker's optics narrowed, fury melting from his energon lines. "Is that your question?"

She grinned and nodded.

It was a long night, one which Sunstreaker was not likely to repeat, mostly due to the fact that he had completely neglected his job. Monitor duty may be boring as frag but base security was essential.

The squishy was so exhausted, she dozed off. Sunstreaker wasn't surprised, she always worked herself to the brink of passing out each day. Staying up till 0400 hours would be difficult for her.

Sunstreaker decided to allow her to remain in recharge for the remainder of the time. It actually allowed him to focus on the task at hand. Eventually though, when his shift was over, he was left with an unconscious human on his textboard. He could just wake her up and send her on her way. But she looked so peaceful curled up on her side, mouth left slightly open after a half-sparked yawn. And it was so trusting of her to fall into recharge in his presence. Every other human on base, even Captain Lennox, kept at least one eye on him at all times.

He could just carry her to the human barracks. If he's careful, she wouldn't wake up.

Not remembering any reason why he wouldn't want to, he reached down to grab the small form. Once his servo was within inches of her, the squishy's eyes snapped open. In a flash, she was on one knee, e-blade extended towards Sunstreaker's appendage, pistol aiming for one of his optics.

Both woman and mech froze for a split second as the squishy blinked awake to the situation. Her tired eyes widened as she quickly holstered her weapons. "Sunstreaker! Sorry, you surprised me. I'm a pretty light sleeper." She tried to explain.

"I can see that!" he snapped in a half sparked manner. "Do you always wake with guns blazing? I feel bad for your mates if that's the case."

"I would have remembered sharing a bed when I woke up." She explained as if he should have already realized that. "Sorry again, it's a habit from my prior training. Instructors would attack us in our sleep, it helped us become battle ready at any given moment."

"I think your instructors were missing a few vital cranial components." He only half joked. Seriously, she was fragged up.

"I wouldn't disagree with that." She stated simply.

"Well, my shift is off, so you should be getting back to your room now." He made a shooing motion.

"Alright." She stretched her arms up. Sunstreaker could hear a few 'cracks' as she did so. He shuddered a bit at the sound. Humans were so weird. The squishy stood near the edge of the board and glanced down, pausing just for a moment as she analyzed her distance from both the ground and the chair below her. It would be a simple distance to jump for someone like her. Ten feet to the ground.

Sunstreaker waited to see what she would do. If she asked for help, he'd oblige, but he wanted the squishy to decide her own progress at this point.

With a small lean forward, she jumped down to the chair, only a few feet below. One more jump brought her to the ground. All signs of exhaustion was gone, replaced by the faint acceleration of her heartbeat. While she wasn't looking, Sunstreaker nodded his approval and stood to walk her out.

Sunstreaker looked down the corridor that would lead to his and Sides' berthroom. He was ready for some descent recharge. A quick glance at the squishy showed her to be alert. However, upon closer inspection, her shoulders were dropped, head lowered. Overall, she looked exhausted.

He wouldn't be much of a mech to just leave a femme of any species alone in this state. So, with a heavy sigh, he resolved himself to walk her home.

"Come on," he called to her, "let's get you back."

Instead of arguing that she didn't need his help, she fell into step with him. Her pace was normal, but her eyes were half closed. She blinked slowly and a tired frown formed on her face. To Sunstreaker, she looked almost like a sparkling fighting off recharge.

Both mech and woman stayed silent as they strolled over the dusty ground. Sunstreaker kept his focus mainly on the sky above them; partly out of habit, partly out of longing. Even though the planet's sky was polluted by light, it showed far more stars than his home planet did. Cybertron was too far to see, but he knew the direction it was in. A triangle of small but bright stars guided his optics. In the center of it would be the direction of the dead world.

He vividly remembered the bright shining cities, even more beautiful in the processor of a youngling. It wasn't until he and Sides had started earning credits in the gladiator pits that they left Kaon for the first time and visited Crystal City in the Iacon city state. It was there where he sold his first piece of art.

A fond smile ghosted across Sunstreaker's faceplates. Sideswipe, the hustler that he was, claimed it was created by some made up artist by the name of Skyracer. With that, they'd gotten enough credits to extend their trip by an Orn.

He was so far from that life. Sure, it was rough. He had to fight for survival. But they weren't refugees on a primitive filthy planet. His scowl returned, thinking of just how far his race had fallen. Sideswipe took it much better than he did, falling back on humor to cut through the grief. Sunstreaker was just angry, and rightfully so.

The growling of an engine tore Sunstreaker from his inner thoughts. Mirage was cruising towards them, no doubt having just finished his patrol.

The Ferrari pulled to a stop by the walking pair and transformed into the elitist himself. "Ciao, Sunstreaker. Taking your po' umano on a walk?" he sneered.

"What's that supposed to mean, you useless hood ornament?" he growled back, sizing up the sleeker mech.

The red 'bot, cocky as ever, leaned to his side, casually crossing his arms. He cleanly switched to their native cybertronian, "I'm just surprised, a ruffian such as yourself would have such a soft spot for pets."

Sunstreaker growled, "Well this pet can crush your tin aft anytime. You might want to learn some respect." He grabbed the mech by a armor seam on his chassis. Sunstreaker could feel a sensory wire under his crushing grip. Mirage hissed him pain. "I'd be happy to teach 'ya." He threatened, itching for the infiltrator to reciprocate so he could beat the slag out of him already.

Unwisely, Mirage met his steely glare and spat back, "At least your pet seems more cultured. She knows her place below the Cybertronian hierarchy, with only a small space next to gladiator retrorats."

The yellow warrior reared back to beat the smugness out of the mech, but a shout made him pause. He looked down to the squishy who stood fully alert, shooting the mechs with a steely glare.

"Save it for later, Sunstreaker," she commanded. Her eyes batted over to the red mech. "Mirage, vaffanculo." He looked aghast at such treatment. He stammered for a coherent response but the femme cut him off with a raised hand. "If you have a problem, we'll discuss it later. But stay out of my way." she warned. Mirage clamped his jaw shut, only returning the squishy's gaze for a moment before looking away.

"If you'll excuse me," the infiltrator muttered, "I have a patrol to finish." Without another word, he transformed and shot off. After a quick turn around the corner, the only evidence of his presence was the hum of his engine and the distancing red glow from his tail lights.

Sunstreaker stared after him and huffed to himself. He was hoping to use Mirage to let off some steam, Primus knows the fragger deserved it.

"Come on Sunstreaker," the squishy called his attention back down, "you can beat him up in training later."

The warrior growled, "You didn't understand what he was saying, the fragger deserves a crushed nasal plate.

His companion's eyes narrowed, and she faced him defensively. "I know he's a prick. I know he thinks he's superior. Whatever disparaging thing he said about you or me or the both of us doesn't matter. No one cares about what he says anyway."

"Whatever." Sunstreaker grumbled, not willing to agree with her words. "Next time, though, how about I hold him while you stab?" he thought wistfully of an apologetic and leaking Mirage.

The squishy brightened a bit at the humor of his statement. "If the crime is fitting of the punishment."

Sunstreaker's lip plates quirked slightly. "Fine, but I'm going to hold you to that. Now, let's get you back to your berth."

"Hey." Sides greeted as Sunstreaker slipped through the threshold, yanking the door shut behind him.

"Hey." He answered back, more focused on inspecting his armor under the different lighting. "You're awake." He observed.

"Had trouble staying in recharge. I figured since we have tomorrow off, I'd just wait for you to join me and we could sleep in. Maybe catch Rin on her way out from her second refueling."

"The squishy said Ironhide wanted to use her for a demonstration." Sunstreaker informed him.

"But she's still recovering." Sides furrowed his optic ridges. "Wait, when did she say this?"

Sunstreaker shrugged, moving to sit on his berth. "She said it'd be nothing too physical for her to handle."

"Ok," the silver mech approached from behind him, wrapping arms around his broad chest-plated twin, "but you didn't answer my question."

"She sat in with me for monitor duty." Sunstreaker scowled, knowing his brother would likely get jealous. He liked the squishy's company too much for his own good.

Sides relaxed his arms, letting them drop a little. "You two hung out together?"

"Is that wrong?" the yellow mech sighed, missing the contact.

Sides jumped back up to his pedes and ran around the berth, dropping back down next to his twin. "No, that's great, actually."

"Just go to recharge already, slagger." Sunstreaker physically, but gently, pushed his brother off the berth.

The silver mech quickly recovered, the fond smile on his faceplates faltered. "Sunstreaker… do you like her?" he asked cautiously.

He huffed at the question, "I don't like humans."

"But do you like her?" Sides pushed.

Sunstreaker glared at his brother. The mech obviously had something on his mind. "What do you mean by that? Why are you saying it like that?"

The sly smile that Sides let break free was tell enough.

Anger boiled inside the yellow warrior, quickly spilling over in a litany of profanities, "Primus you fragging glitched creation of a rabid turbofox!"

"She'd be your creator too!" Sides laughed, taking some kind of sick humor in his brother's reaction.

Sunstreaker ran a servo down his faceplates. "Primus below, why do you have to be my brother?"

"You aren't denying it." He said in a sing song voice.

That caused Sunstreaker to flinch. His words were full of venom, "What's your malfunction? There is no way I would ever find a fleshy even remotely attractive in any form. Only a two-bit slag-sucking aft-head would ever consider such a thing."

Sides frowned, optics narrowing. "You aren't calling her unattractive, are you?"

"Primus." He moaned, wishing he never heard this, "You can't actually be thinking what I think you're thinking."

"You're an artist," he shrugged, moving back to his own berth, "do you consider only Cybertronians beautiful? What about the mithril sea or the rainbow storms over the Torque Flats?"

"Shut up you fragging scrap-heap!" Sunstreaker practically roared, not concerned whether he woke any recharging mechs. "Those things are in no way related! One is a pretty view and the other is a slimy, oil filled meat sack!"

Crossing his arms, Sides glared hard at his brother. "I know you don't really think of her that way."

Sunstreaker scoffed, "And how do you think of her?"

"She's a friend!" Sides waved his servos around, accentuating his point, "I actually like my friends." He added in a quick mumble, "And I can acknowledge when someone of another species has certain… markers that are in their favor."

"I can't listen to this." Sunstreaker stood and headed to the door. If he stayed any longer they'd both end up in the med bay, then probably the brig.

"Aw come on," Sides tried to reason walking up behind him, "it's not like I'm attracted to her. At the very least she looks more cute than ugly, can't you at least admit that?" he asked desperately.

"Humans are not cute." He shot over his shoulder.

Sides huffed in frustration. "Aren't you tired of hating them?"

"No!" Sunstreaker whipped around. "We are stuck on this Primus forsaken planet, surrounded by these tiny, useless organics, fighting over whatever scraps are left from this war."

Sides sat back on his berth, energy seeming to be depleted. "Then shouldn't we at least be grateful whenever something good comes into our lives. You just need to recognize it."

Sunstreaker couldn't listen to any more of this. "I'm going for a drive, don't wait up for me." He stormed out, cooling vents furiously trying to calm his stressed frame, leaving his brother alone in the dark room.