Starscream angrily kicks a crumbled up ball of metal scraps about, and the Cybertronian he had met in the woodlands watches nearby. He nibbles on a spindly root, his teeth grinding against the tart fibers. Starscream furiously slams his foot against the ball, sending it flying through the canopy. His audience of one watches with minimal interest.

Starscream glowers at him. "Any comment, Ryo?"

Ryo looks backs at the bristling Seeker. He removes the root from his lips and holds it out to Starscream.

Starscream ambles up to him and takes the root from his fingers. He slips it between his teeth and chews feverishly on the delectible inorganic plant matter. "You know what I'm sayin'?"

Ryo nods his head and replies in length, but his language is still unknown to Starscream.

"I'll know every word you created at some point. I promise. Say that again, slower this time."

Ryo grins broadly and repeats his response, clearly anunciating every phrase. We'll get it one day, Ryo thinks.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. You're asking if we're still fighting? Yes."

Ryo frowns empathetically. He gently pats Starscream's shoulder before tending to a small bag on his hip. He pulls out a couple more roots before putting them in Starscream's hand. Starscream observes them, the metal flesh around his optics starting to become puffy. His mind start to cloud, but the indistiguishable train of thoughts is welcomed.

"Thanks," Starscream mutters. He sits down on the ground and stares emptily out into the forest.

Ryo follows his comrade's gaze, trying to see if there is anything in particular he is observing. He suddenly gets to his feet and happily dashes into the foliage. Starscream stews in his silence, his high starting to escalate at a rapid pace. Ryo return with the ball and places it before Starscream. The Seeker just stares at the sunlight reflecting off its surface, his mind locked onto the brilliance.

"What do I do if he never loves me again?" Starscream asks. He looks up at Ryo, his optics filled with heavy tears. His cheeks start to become wet as he continues his train of thought. "What if he hates me forever because I left him? I don't want him to leave me. I want to be close to him, but not in the way that we have been."

Ryo sits before Starscream, intently listening to his outpour of worries and desires. Poor thing. I understand, and I've been in a similar situation. Maybe not as intense as this...but I understand.

"But why do I still want to be with him?" Starscream places his head in his hands, his brain becoming a swath of flashbulb memories, existential dread, illogical nonsense. He takes in a breath, trying to steer himself through the hurricane of ideas broiling inside him. "I...I...he and I are both...we both messed up a lot. Maybe we are meant for each other...I don't know. Dear Primus, I don't think this was a good time for this." Starscream looks at the chewed up root in his hand.

Ryo sifts through his side bag again and extracts a leaf. He gently inserts it between Starscream's lips. It's time to come down.

"Do I chew it?"

Ryo nods.

Starscream clamps the leaf between his teeth, and after a few minutes of absently nibbling on it, he feels the storm swelling inside fall apart. His shoulders relax as it becomes daylight again, the waters calm for peaceful contemplation and discovery.

"Starscream."

Starscream whips around as a familiar, deep voice rubbles behind him. Ryo quickly gets to his feet as Shockwave enters his camp.

"Ryo, it's okay." Starscream gently gets up and places a serene hand on Ryo's shoulder. "Shockwave, I didn't know you were coming."

Shockwave observes the home Ryo constructed by hand, and he brushes away Starscream's presence as he ventures around the camp. Ryo watches with gritted teeth; a stranger is not welcome so close to his abode. Shockwave gestures to his home.

"Did you construct this?" Shockwave asks.

Ryo narrows his eyes before nodding.

"Ah. It is very...incredible. Do you enjoy crafting?"

Ryo frowns. You're next to my home! Ryo thinks, his internal voice shrieking. You have a gun and you are next to my home!

Shockwave observes his hesitancy. "I ask because I also like to build. I don't meet many with such skill." Shockwave ambles up to the smaller mech, and he clasps his hand and blaster behind his back. His brillaint red optic fidgets and adjusts focus as he awaits a response.

Ryo bites his lip and nods a tad. "Yes, I do."

"Ah. You're language isn't in the universal translator. Hmm, may I spend time with you and learn your language so I may add it to my own database?"

Ryo looks to Starscream, but the Seeker just stares back blankly. Ryo turns to Shockwave and gives him a small nod.

"Thank you. I also what to ensure that you know I do not see you as a scientific subject. I see your personhood, and I don't want you to feel as if I am studying you. I am very interested in the construction of your language and the artistry of linguistics." Shockwave shoulders past Ryo and Starscream, making his way through the bushy undergrowth and swaths of tangled vegetation. "Starscream, I will meet you at your home."

. . .

Megatron hands a chrome mug to Shockwave, clouds of steam spilling over its rim. Shockwave places a gentle hand against Megatron's fingers, attempting to reject the offer. Megatron either took no notice of Shockwave's refusal or ignored his hand for he continued pushing it towards Shockwave's face. Shockwave supresses a sigh and grabs the cup, bringing his hands to his lap. The mug sits between his thighs, his hand gracefully knit around it.

Megatron settles down on a slab on the other side of the table in the living room, leaving Shockwave with space all to himself. Megatron settles between Starscream and Ryo, whom Starscream invited. He is concerned about the future of the planet, so his concerns were met with an invitation to speak in private with the brilliant scientist. Ryo knows he wins either way; Shockwave already wants to pry words from him. He knows he has given the mech permission to learn his language, but he is still somewhat unsure about if he wants to unlock his language for this bot. Starscream is genuinely interested in talking to him, so sharing feels natural. But this Shockwave...he's not sure just yet.

Shockwave places the cup on the table before him. "I...apologize for not notifying you ahead of time to state I was coming. But...well...I admit that my thoughts are scrambled and I am not thinking to the best of my ability. I just know it is best to speak in person. So, the black hole is still advancing. There is no destruction yet, or at least any that my gear can read. And I understand that there is a rift between you two."

Starscream nods. "Do you think that is the cause of it coming here?"

"No. That is preposterous."

"I don't think that sentiment is completely out of the question," Megatron remarks.

Shockwave rakes his gaze over the former couple. "You believe it can think? It is aware of your relationship's woes? It is a gravity sink, not a living being."

"Why do you continue to deny this black hole is not really a black hole at all? It is silent light."

"Label it whatever you desire; it is a black hole."

"Dying stars didn't make it," Starscream states. "Two sparks did. We don't have stars in our chests, just...well, whatever sparks are made of."

"Masses of charged positrons."

Starscream wrinkles his nose, his top lip peeling back to reveal a bit of his gums and teeth. "Beside the point. We were able to pass through it, evade destruction, hear voices, and end up on the other end through a white hole."

"Go through it again," Ryo mutters.

Starscream lifts his head, looking around Megatron's broad chest, as Ryo speaks up. "Do what again?"

Ryo rushes his hand through the air. "In."

"Go through the silent light again?"

Ryo nods. Starscream places a finger to his chin, processing the proposition.

"But maybe it's here to hurt us," Megatron whispers.

Shockwave jumps to his feet and slams his trembling fists on the table, causing the mug to topple and spill hot energon across the tabletop and floor. His optic glows furiously. "It is a nonsentient, celestial body without a consciousness! It cannot scheme! It cannot control itself! Love does not make it, just some sort of interaction between two sparks I do not comprehend yet!"

Shockwave straightens up, his head hitting some of the crystals hanging from the ceiling. He ignores them as they swing about and continue to tap the sides of his head. The three bots on the other side of the room watch with slight terror and wonderment. The normally deadpan Shockwave...suddenly erupting with frustration and denial.

"You feeling okay, big bot?" Starscream asks, his voice peppered with a taunting tone.

Shockwave ignores the sly comment and storms outside, muttering under his breath about the audacity of some Cybertronians. He swats away spinning crystals that continue to batter his helm. Ryo gets to his feet and trots after him.

Megatron looks down at Starscream, and the Seeker looks back up with bashful optics, his white pupils dilated and bright. Megatron flashes him a small smirk, reassuring that all will be well.

"We know what's in there, right?" Megatron whispers.

"Yeah."

"Do you think it's okay to go back in?"

"Megatron, I don't know anything about it."

"Yes, you do. We both do. We made it and dared to go through it. Shockwave didn't do anything of those things. He feels threatened, but we know it isn't going to hurt anyone. It was so gentle with us. Couldn't you feel it touching you?"

"Um...yeah, I could. But Shockwave has studied things like this."

"No, he hasn't. This is the first silent light he has encountered. Starscream, it avoided other worlds to come find us. If it can...talk...then I want to hear what it wants to say. It went through all the trouble to get here, so I want to give it a chance."