The Brat Prince of Vos
Chapter 11
Continuity: Pre- and Post-TF:A, a little bit of AU here and there
Warnings: None, really.
Pairings: Megatron x Starscream, but nothing too slashy yet.
There is something wonderfully ridiculous about Megatron and bedtime stories.
Thank you again for the lovely reviews! I'm writing hard haha XD Wow, 11 chapters in less than 24 hours. I'm on a roll! I hope you'll excuse any typos, I check for them but I don't like to use betas. That way I can get them out faster.
"You WHAT?!" screeched Starscream, and Megatron abruptly found himself on the floor with the youngling standing atop of him.
"Listen to me, Starscream," Megatron growled, rolling over and pulling the youngling down easily, pinning the flier down gently by the neck. "I'm not going to bond with you tonight. I will bond with you, you have my word. But not tonight."
The Seeker thrashed beneath him, grasping at Megatron's arm, and the Decepticon leader absently reflected that the youngling had grown an awful lot in the last century - though still not posing any sort of challenge, Megatron had to use the full weight of his arm to keep Starscream down.
Eventually the thirteenth child stopped struggling, pouting up at Megatron instead with one of the most petulant expressions the older mech had ever seen. "Why?" he rasped simply, and Megatron loosened his hold, sitting up and pulling the youngling into his lap.
"Little Prince, it just isn't safe - for either of us," Megatron explained gently. "You are young and inexperienced still. If you died in battle alongside me, if we were bonded, I would die too. Who would lead the Decepticons then?"
The youngling huffed, scrunching up his faceplates. "I guess…"
"I want you to be my heir, Starscream," purred the larger Decepticon into the youngling's audios. "No more thirteenth in line. First in line to the Decepticon Empire. If you were bonded to me, if I died, you'd never even stand a chance. One of us goes down, the other follows."
"But I'm not supposed to be your heir!" growled the youngling, crossing his arms over his chest irritably. "I'm supposed to rule alongside you! I'm supposed to be your bondmate!"
"As soon as it's safe, I'll bond with you," Megatron murmured, nuzzling into the Seeker's audios.
"And when will that be?" snarled Starscream, pushing the Decepticon leader's helm away from his own. "It took you a whole century just to get back to Vos - and now you're not even going to bond with me!"
"Oh but I am going to bond with you. As soon as the war is over, as soon as the Decepticons triumph and the Autobots admit defeat," pressed Megatron. "I need the fliers of Vos. With them, this war will be over in no time."
"So you want me to pretend that we're bonded? Just so you can get my Father's army?" Starscream muttered, refusing to look Megatron in the optics.
"Yes, I do. Can you do that for me, my little Prince?" said the tyrant silkily.
The youngling was silent for a few moments. Then he turned in Megatron's lap, facing the older mech fully. "You promise you'll bond with me one day?" he asked sadly.
With a light kiss on the Seeker's forehead, Megatron murmured against the dark helm, "I promise." And with that, Starscream curled his arms around Megatron's neck.
"You…you still like me, right?" Starscream whispered into the cables of Megatron's neck.
"I do," chuckled the Decepticon leader - and strangely, he reflected, it was the truth. He'd come to look forward to their calls over the last century, waiting expectantly for the little youngling to ask for a bedtime story. There was an odd affection in his spark for the troublesome Seeker. "Come," Megatron said, lifting Starscream up into his arms like one would a sparkling and carrying him into the berthroom, "I'll read you stories all night instead. I even got some of my Decepticons to write some new ones for you."
"M'kay," Starscream smiled, tightening his grip on the Decepticon's shoulders.
The Decepticon leader settled down on the berth, placing the youngling in his lap again where the Seeker curled up comfortably. Megatron withdrew a large datapad from his subspace pocket and turned it on.
They had to go through four stories before Starscream found one he liked the sound of - Shockwave's, in particular, was appalling, and read more like a history textbook than anything else. Oil Slick - a chemical warfare expert, Megatron explained to the youngling - had also contributed a story, but it turned out to be more of a recipe for explosive cocktails and fun things to do with them. Finally, they reached Strika's one, and though Megatron struggled to translate some parts of the story from Strika's language into common Cybertronian, it seemed to suit Starscream just fine.
"Once upon a cycle," Megatron began dramatically, "there was a small flier who lived in Vos. Many times, his creators had told him not to venture outside the walls, but the little flier was curious and often sneaked over the walls to see the outside world.
"One day, when the weather was particularly nice and there wasn't a storm cloud in sight, he decided to go south. After many hours of swooping and diving, the little flier found himself flying over Kaon. But suddenly, out of nowhere, a thunder storm appeared, and he was struck by lightning. He fell down into the dark streets of Kaon.
"When he came back online, he found himself surrounded by evil groundlings. Every one of them had a different weapon - all pointed at the little flier. The flier cried out in fear, and was heard by a gladiator that happened to be passing by. The gladiator killed the evil mechs and rescued the little flier.
"The flier was so grateful that he made a pair of wings for the gladiator, and taught him how to fly. Together, they flew to Cybertron's moons, where they started their own city. The end," finished Megatron.
"Are there really cities on our moons?" Starscream asked drowsily.
"Small colonies, but not cities, and a few energon mines," explained the Decepticon. "I worked in one of the mines, a long, long time ago."
"How old are you, anyway?" laughed the youngling, rubbing at his optics with a yawn.
"Old enough to be your creator," Megatron teased, stroking the newly imprinted brands on Starscream's wings. "Are you ready to recharge?"
"Mmh…I guess…but tell me more stories until I fall asleep," Starscream said, smacking his palm against Megatron's chest lightly.
"Very well," the Decepticon leader said, and began a bizarre story written by Spittor - but no sooner had he started, Starscream was already asleep in his arms.