Okay, so this is a preview of something I will start to write after Invictus. This story will be called "An Attempt at Raising a Sparkling" and will be centered around what happened between the end of Ancillam and the beginning of Filia. It will just be shorts/scenes of things that happened from Dawnstar being little to a "teenager" and how Starscream raised her. Also show things with him and Moonstar interacting, so, yay, Moonstar will be returning somewhat. :)
There will also be a few scenes that show what happened between chapters 14 and 15 of Ancillam when there was the time jump of four stellar cycles.
This will just be for fun, really, showing funny, cute, and adorable things with not so much drama. And, of course, smart mouth Dawnstar giving her sire a run for his Shanix. This is me making up to you guys all the horrible slag I put Starscream through in Filia. XD Sorry, not sorry!
I'll also note Dawnstar's relative age compared to humans in the title of each short.
So, anyway, here is an example of what to expect. Let me know your thoughts! :D
Why One Should Never Text Their Overly Embarrassing Sire (Adolescent Dawnstar):
Dawnstar: "Yo, dad. What you doing?"
Starscream: "Doing your carrier."
Dawnstar: "EWWWWW! DAD! TMI!"
Starscream: "You were asking."
Dawnstar: "I don't need to know THAT! Primus, dad, can't you be serious for once?"
Starscream: "Who said anything about me not being serious?"
Dawnstar: "Wait… Are you interfacing mom right now?!"
Starscream: "Why? Do you want to talk to her?"
Dawnstar: "Actually, yes. At least she will answer my question without being all weird."
Starscream: "Too bad. She kinda can't talk with all the moaning she's doing."
Dawnstar: "ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Am I seriously talking to you as you frag my mom?"
Starscream: "Well, how else would we have created you? Bought you from a hardware store? Too many complex instructions that way… I prefer the fun way. ;)"
Dawnstar: "Did you just send me a winky face?"
Starscream: "I did. ;)"
Dawnstar: "Dad, you're cool and all, but not that cool."
Starscream: "I'm the coolest mech you will ever meet. Far cooler than any of those mech-friends you fantasize about or watch in your movies. I'm so cool I freeze the sun. :D"
Dawnstar: "Primus…"
Starscream: "I'm also so hot I burn the sun! And your carrier's aft. ;)"
Dawnstar: "DAD!"
Starscream: "Why did you originally message me?"
Dawnstar: "I was gonna ask you a question, but now I think I'm going to ask Uncle TC."
Starscream: "That might be a problem…"
Dawnstar: "Why…?"
Starscream: "Because he's doing me. :)"
Dawnstar: "….. You know what, I'm going to go and talk with Soundwave. He's never… embarrassing."
Starscream: "Embarrassing? So creating you is embarrassing? Primus, I have an embarrassment as a daughter! D: Look at her everyone! My embarrassment!"
Dawnstar: "Bye, dad…."
Starscream: "Look at her! Look at her and laugh!"
Dawnstar: "I'm going to adopt myself out to someone else…"
Starscream: "And be their embarrassment? Hell no. You're my embarrassing sparkling. :) And I'm gonna embarrass you until you're a billion vorns old. And we shall be embarrassing together! :D"
Dawnstar: "I'm moving to another planet…"
Starscream: "Can I come too?"
Dawnstar: "No…"
Starscream: "I'mma cry… :("
Dawnstar: "You don't cry, dad. Bye. I'm going to talk to Soundwave."
Starscream: "He sticks little people inside of him. That's pretty embarrassing. I don't do that. I stick little people inside of your carrier. :D"
Dawnstar: "STOP! Just…. Ugh, STOP! And enough of the emoticons."
Starscream: "No…. -.-"
Dawnstar: "Bye."
Starscream: "Bye! Love you! OXOXOXO! All my love! See you on whatever new planet you move to! I'm so glad to be able to call myself your embarrassing sire! :D You're the best embarrassment creation ever! Like, ever! Ever, for like, for-reals! You see that? that was my impersonation of you. You may not see it, but I even said it in that feminine vocalizer of yours with the little servo waves. Like, seriously. Like, that's how you, like, talk, like, for-reals. Like, really. I luvs you. :D"
Dawnstar: "I'm not going to comment on that…"
Starscream: "I too fab for you. ;)"
Dawnstar: "…."
Starscream: ":D"
Moonstar looked up from the hologram board game she was playing with the Elite Trine in Starscream's hab suite.
"You're terrible." She stated to her mate.
"I know." Starscream gave a wry smirk, all too proud of his childish antics.
"And for the record, I would never be moaning too much to not be able to talk to my daughter."
"Want me to tell her that?"
"You've traumatized her enough for an orn."
Starscream just smiled for a klik. "She does talk like that."
"She does…" Thundercracker grunted.
Playing Hide-N-Go-Seek (about 5 year old Dawnstar):
Soundwave sat working at his console in the control room when little thruster heels sounded quickly behind him. Tiny servos clasped onto his knees as the young Seerkerlet clambered onto his lap. He looked down and watched the little one, panting and flapping her wing stubs, climb up and crawl over his lap.
His cassettes all curiously watched from the console. Dawnstar slapped at his chest and tried to pry it open. Curiously, he allowed it to open ever so slightly and the Seekerlet grabbed onto the top and forced it down. She clumsily tried to crawl inside, only managing to get halfway in when the clacking of large thruster heels sounded.
"Dawnstar, where are you?" Starscream inquired as he entered the Control Room.
Dawnstar giggled, her aft, legs, and peds still hanging out of the Communication Officer's chest. She couldn't see her sire so surely he couldn't see her!
Starscream walked over to the Decepticon TIC and raised an optical ridge. Soundwave looked down, then back up at Starscream and offered the Air Commander a small shrug. Starscream just smiled.
"Well, there doesn't appear to be signs of my creation in here." Starscream replied a little loud to make sure Dawnstar heard him. "I guess I'll just go check the other side of the Nemesis."
Dawnstar giggled again, it reverberating inside of the blue grounder's chest compartment. Starscream started to walk in place, slowly making his footfalls quieter and quieter so it sounded as if he was walking away. Once he stopped, he waited for her to make her move. The little one wiggled herself out of Soundwave's chest and plunked her aft onto his lap. She looked up at Soundwave and giggled.
"Daddy didn't find me!" She exclaimed victoriously, oblivious that he was directly behind her.
"And why is that a good thing?" Starscream asked.
Her little wings pricked and she looked back. She squealed loudly before scrambling out of Soundwave's lap and bolting away. Starscream calmly followed her out of the Control Room, easily keeping up with her much smaller legs.
Soundwave closed his chest back up and looked at his cassettes.
"That was… different." Rumble commented.
"Would have been cute if she wasn't a Seeker." Frenzy replied.
Don't Recharge When on Sparkling Watch (about 5 year old Dawnstar):
Moonstar's stiletto heels clicked as she made her way down the corridors of the Nemesis. It was late, and she was finally returning to her little family after having to help Hook all orbital cycle in the medbay.
She smiled just thinking about being with her Conjunx Endura and little daughter. Those two just made everything so much better, and she never wanted to be separated from them.
She put in her code and entered the hab suite.
"Hey, mommy!"
Moonstar eyed her creation for a moment before slowly shaking her helm. Starscream was recharging on the couch, obviously exhausted himself from the raid he and the other Decepticons had earlier. Dawnstar was on the couch beside him, her paint canisters and paintbrushes on the small table as she held one of each item in a servo. Her sire was now covered in her colorful drawings. Flowers, hearts, stick figures of everyone she knew, smiley faces, and many other unknown designs scattered all over the Air Commander.
"What are you doing, Dawn?" Moonstar asked softly so as to not wake Starscream.
"I'm drawing on daddy. Hey, mommy,"
"Yes?"
"Daddy did a 'no-no.'"
"What did he do?"
"He said he was going to stay up until you came home, but he didn't. He was supposed to watch me, like he always does, but instead he fell into recharge. Does he have to go into the corner for a timeout? Are you going to lecture him?"
Moonstar smiled. "Daddy's just tired, sweetie. He didn't mean to fall into recharge."
"Why is he tired?"
"Because he had to go to work. Remember? Acid Storm was sparkling-sitting you. And when you get older you get tired easier."
"Mommy, daddy had a boo-boo, but I fixed it." She said with a proud smile.
"Where?"
"Here." Dawnstar said as she pointed to a spot on the Seeker mech's thigh that was now covered in towels and glue.
"Did you do that?"
"Yeah. I fixed daddy." Dawnstar grinned.
"Well, you did a marvelous job. I think he'll feel all better." Moonstar smiled at her creation. "Mind if I take a look?"
"Alrighty." Dawnstar said dismissively as she resumed her drawing.
Moonstar gently removed the glue covered towels to see the smallest of cuts on the Air Commander's thigh. She shook her helm, smiling to herself. Dawnstar loved her sire so much.
Moonstar set aside the towels and stroked her mate's helm, kissing him gently on the cheekplates. He stirred, slowly onlining. Moonstar's smile grew when red optics glowed from the dark faceplates and focused on her blue ones.
"Hey, sexy mech." She said softly.
"Mmm, hey sexy femme." He said sleepily.
"Don't move. Dawnstar is beside you on the couch. Don't want to knock her over."
"Primus, I fell into recharge… She didn't get into anything, did she?"
Moonstar just smiled at him for a moment. "Your paintjob looks fabulous. I think she's a true artist."
It took his still sleepy processor a moment. "Ugh… Please tell me it's the easy to remove stuff."
"It's a mixture of both."
"Nothing too embarrassing?"
"I think she drew you wielding a sword and stabbing what appears to be Megatron as a dragon."
"Of course she did…"
Moonstar kissed him on the lip plates. "You look beautiful." She then tapped the tip of his olfactory sensor. "Even with a pink moustache."
He just eyed her for a moment before venting a sigh. "Dawnstar, why are you painting all over me?"
"Because, daddy, I wanted to." She stated matter-of-factly without ceasing in her work.
"That explains everything." He mumbled. "Princess, can you put your paints away? We need to all go into recharge."
"Okay, daddy. But you are going into the time-out corner."
"Why?" He said as he looked down at her.
"Because, you fell into recharge when you were supposed to be watching me. That's a 'no-no.'"
He raised an optical ridge. "I suppose it is. I guess your carrier will be dealing with me…"
"I am." Moonstar smiled before pecking a kiss on his lip plates. "But first, let's get some recharge and in the morning I'll 'punish' you appropriately."
He smirked that sexy smirk of his that made her internally swoon. "Ooh, I like the sound of that."
"Daddy, you have to sit facing the wall for nine joors." Dawnstar said strictly as she put her canisters and paintbrushes away.
"What are you talking about, femmling?" Starscream demanded as he sat up. "The longest I've ever put you in the corner was for five kliks! Why do I get nine joors?"
"Because, I could have hurt myself being alone. You say that yourself. You didn't keep to your word. You're a hypo-griff."
"Hypocrite. The word is hypocrite. If you're going to lecture me say the words correctly."
"Mommy, daddy is not taking me seriously!" She said with a stomp of her ped.
"Don't worry, Dawn. In the morning I'll add three extra joors to his sentence for not taking you seriously." Moonstar said it like she meant it.
"I feel as if all the femmes on this ship are against me…"
"Complaining gets you extra time."
"I apologize."
"It's okay. I still love you, daddy." Dawnstar smiled up at him.
Sparklings Eat Everything (About 5 year old Dawnstar):
It was just Starscream and Dawnstar in their hab suite for Moonstar was in medbay working with Hook. The Air Commander was in the midst of a comm. link call as he tried to tidy the messy room, while Dawnstar attempted to help, staying quiet as her sire became more emotional with his call.
"No, you don't understand the basics. Do you need me to fly over there and hold your servo? … That is slag. Complete, utter slag. … No, you don't get this, do you? I have an army to run and can't be there to help you discern your helm from your aft all the time. … Shut up! Now, let's go over this again real nice and slow so you can understand me." He argued into the comm. link as he walked back and forth, putting away datapads, folding towels, organizing Dawnstar's toys, and cleaning up spilt energon.
Dawnstar was going through a small box, trying her best to be like her sire and organize the contents of it. She picked up a small ship model and studied it, her little servos holding it by the wings.
"Were you just programmed to be an inept idiot? … Uh huh… Have you tried turning it on and off? … Smartaft? … You're the one getting snippy with me. … No, wrong. Let's take a step back and check your performance. Aaaaaaand, yeah, there it is: Idiot. Says it in bold glyphs. … No, don't try to make up excuses. How about this, you do as you are told, do it well, and I won't demote you to a maintenance drone. Sounds good? … Alright, then. Let's start back from the beginning."
Dawnstar looked up at her sire as he walked by her carrying the pile of folded towels into the washroom, still going on with his comm. call. She looked back down at the ship model and started to poke at it, seeing if it did anything. Then, as all sparkling do, she began to chew on it, starting on the wing.
The Air Commander walked back out of the washroom and approached his desk, still oblivious to what his creation was doing. He was typing something down on a datapad, then walked away to put some items on a shelving unit.
Dawnstar kept chewing until there was a "snip" sound. Her optics widened, and she dropped the model to clutch her throat. She started to cough, then she began to cry as she panicked. She turned back to her sire and tried to speak, but her vocalizer was restricted from the piece of the model lodged in her throat.
Starscream was still arguing when he finally looked at his distressing daughter. His optics widened and he rushed over to her.
"I'm going to have to call you back." He said quickly before cutting the comm. line. "Dawnstar, look at me! What is it? What's wrong?" He demanded as he held her little shoulders.
She coughed, grasping at her neck. He looked down and saw the ship model with its broken wing. His optics widened when he realized what had happened. He picked her up and hurried out of the hab suite.
Starscream burst into the medbay holding his daughter against his chest piece as she choked.
"Hook! Fix her!" The Air Commander bellowed in almost a complete panic.
"What? What's wrong?" Hook inquired as he ran over.
"She swallowed something and is unable to cycle air or speak! I'm freaking out!" The Decepticon SIC exclaimed as he handed his femmling over to the Constructicon.
Hook carried her over to a medberth and set her down before running a scanner over her.
"She'll be fine, commander. It won't be hard to remove." Hook explained calmly as he reached for the necessary tools.
"You sure? You sure she won't be internally damaged or have to go through therapy or be put into a CR chamber for-"
"Starscream! Stop it. Sparklings swallow foreign material all the time. This will be a simple fix."
"I'm a terrible sire. I let this happen. I was supposed to be watching her! I can't do this. I can't-" Starscream started to pace back and forth.
Hook rolled his optics. "Sit your aft down over there or leave my medbay." Hook ordered sternly.
Starscream's wings lowered before he went to the indicated seats and sat down. He anxiously watched as Hook put Dawnstar into a medically induced stasis lock then used a long probe to reach down her throat and grab the foreign piece.
Moonstar exited the backroom while he was in the midst of operating on her daughter. Her optics widened.
"What's wrong with Dawn?" She gasped.
"Your hubby is over there. Ask him." Hook grunted as he worked.
Moonstar looked past the medic and at the Air Commander. She trotted over to him and sat down beside him.
"Star?"
"I'm a failure as a sire. I wasn't watching her and she swallowed something. Primus, I'm no good at this." He said miserably as he held his visage in his servos.
"Sweetie, she'll be fine. Hook will fix her and then this will be ancient history." She said softly to him.
"And what if she is traumatized for life?"
"You're being silly."
"I'm being cautious."
"You fly into battle and piss off Megatron but couldn't handle your daughter swallowing this?" Hook inquired as he held up the tiny piece for Starscream to see.
"Get your own creation and then you'll understand." Starscream snapped.
"No thank you." Hook said slowly as if the thought disturbed him.
"See, hunky mechy, Hook took good care of our sparkling." Moonstar smiled as she hugged his arm.
"Hmm, he's still an aft."
"Don't insult me when I just repaired your daughter." Hook said as he began to online the Seekerlet.
"I'll never take my optics off her again. Never. Not for as long as she lives. "Starscream said resolutely.
"You're ridiculous." Moonstar rolled her optics. "But, I think that just makes you cuter."
"Take it." Hook grunted as he handed a still partly recharging Dawnstar to the Air Commander.
Starscream narrowed his optics before standing up and gently accepting his most precious creation. He held her against his chest and allowed her to rest her helm on his shoulder. She moaned sleepily, her arms wrapping around his neck and clinging to him.
"Thank you, good doctor." Starscream grumbled as he protectively held his daughter close to him.
"Welcome. And don't bother me again unless your spark casing falls out of your chest. Better yet, don't even bother me for that." Hook grunted before pivoting on a heel and walking away.
Moonstar stood and pecked a kiss to her Conjunx Endura's cheekplates. "I'll see you later."
"Maybe. I think I am still at risk of having a spark attack."
She snickered. "Just don't let her get into anything she isn't suppose to."
"She isn't getting into anything at all. Never again. She's not even allowed to watch others get into anything." He stated.
"Oh, I love you so much." Moonstar kissed him again. "So cute, my awesome sexy Seeker. But, seriously, don't let this experience ruin both your lives. It happens."
"It will never happen again." He then sighed. "I suppose I must comm. Shockwave back."
"Have fun with that."
"Hmm," He grunted before kissing his mate on the brow and then exiting the medbay with his creation.
Confession: When I was like 4 years old or something I swallowed a quarter and it lodged inside of my throat. :( I remember my X-rays and waking up after they knocked me out to probe it out with tools. I remember not being able to talk... Hell, I remember putting it in my mouth and the "oh shit" moment it fell in. I was one of THOSE kids... XD
Starscream hates Shockwave so much...