Similar to Earth, this planet has a night cycle, and it is that time right now. Mostly everyone has retired to their own quarters to get a few hours of worthwhile recharge before starting the day anew.

Thunderhoof knows that this is something Steeljaw has been looking forward to for a long time, and he'd be lying if a part of him didn't want something like this, too. However, unlike his former… well, he probably should be saying his once former leader… he doesn't have the patience to settle a deal like this. If anything, he'd lose his temper dealing with Cybertronian politics in a civilized manner. Civilized by Autobot standards, anyway, but he knows how pissed Steeljaw would be if he ruined what could possibly be their final shot at attaining a world to call their own.

Thunderhoof vented and rubbed his temples, exhaustion from the day's events finally catching up to him. Everything with Steeljaw…

Why does everything have to be so fragging difficult with him? He makes things sound as simple as transformation, which, more often than not, results in one heck of a shit show! Clever, yes, but that came with a fragging god complex…

"And why am I overthinkin' this?" Thunderhoof said aloud, gaze focused on the earth beneath his hooves. He vented and leaned back, looking to the sky above and stargazing.

As they were in a different galaxy, far away from Cybertron and Earth, Thunderhoof didn't recognize these star systems. Doesn't mean he isn't entranced by their simple yet complex beauty. The small twinkling lights are very relaxing to just lie down and stare at.

"Nice night."

Thunderhoof was about to jump into action when a clawed servo clutched his shoulder plate, giving it a rather weak squeeze. He turned slowly, careful not to hit whoever was behind him.

Of course.

Despite only knowing this mech for not even a full day, Thunderhoof is unsurprised.

"Yous sure are Steeljaw's brother, aren't yous?"

"Well, as the elder split-spark, I expect him to take after me, if only just a little bit," Phantomjaw chuckled. He groans and reaches around to cradle his flank. "Mind if I join you? I haven't fully recovered from that beating I took."

"A stick went in one way and out the other. I wouldn't exactly consider that a beating."

Still, Thunderhoof supported Phantomjaw as he eased himself down, careful not to aggravate his injury even further.

"Heh. Yeah, guess not."

"What yous doin' up and about, anyway? Shouldn't yous be resting?"

"Aw, you wouldn't be worried for my well-being, now would you? It is a bit sudden, afterall. Unless you're instantly attracted to others?"

Thunderhoof snorted and rolled his optics.

"Not used to being teased, huh?"

"I'd pummel 'em into scrap metal," Thunderhoof declared.

Phantomjaw laughed.

He hissed and instantly cringed, reaching for his wound once more. Thunderhoof spared a glance at Phantomjaw. His entire midsection is wrapped heavily in bandages.

"Again, what are you doing out here?" Thunderhoof demanded, more firm in his questioning.

Phantomjaw, for his part, is unfazed, and despite the pain, laughs it off.

"By the stars, you sure are persistent. You don't need to worry, honest! I've had…"

Phantomjaw cut himself off with another hiss from the pressure building around his wound. He looked down and saw a large servo gripping his injured side.

"If you had worse, you wouldn't be taking it so badly," Thunderhoof pointed out. "Yous certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to get out of the berth if this had happened before."

"So what if I'm not as strong as my brother? I can still handle the pain!" Phantomjaw snapped.

Well, Thunderhoof certainly wasn't expecting that. Unlike Steeljaw, Phantomjaw didn't seem the type to be prone to stress-induced outbursts, or losing his temper in general. Sure, there was the incident with Thundertron, but that was different!

"What? Why are you staring at me?"

"Just don't see you bein' the type to blow up like that so easily," Thunderhoof admitted.

"How could you possibly know anything about me?"

Okay, now Phantomjaw was getting unreasonably defensive, even more so than Thunderhoof ever witnessed with Steeljaw.

"I know your brother, and it's clear you two aren't all that similar."

"You're judging me based on me and my brother's contrasting personalities?"

"Pretty much, if that's how yous want to put it."

Phantomjaw huffed and crossed his arms. He lowered his helm and curled his tail around the lower half of his frame. The black and white Lupicon is clearly bothered by something.

"Yous gonna sit there moping the whole time or what?" Thunderhoof asked.

"I'm not moping," Phantomjaw grumbled, curling into an even tighter ball. He flinched when he felt the seams of his patch stretching, but chose to ignore it.

Unfortunately for him, this did not escape Thunderhoof's attention. He shook his helm and vented.

"Alright, if that's how you want it…"

Thunderhoof kneeled in front of Phantomjaw and wrenched one of his arms out and to the side.

"Wha…What are you doing?"

"Getting you to pay attention to me and tell me the truth. I don't like being lied to, so I suggest you spit it out, whatever it is you're hiding…"

When Phantomjaw tried to claw Thunderhoof's servo off his own, the Cervicon responded by increasing the pressure.

"And I have no doubt in my processor that it has something to do with your brother."

Giving in, Phantomjaw retracted his free servo.

"I've never really told anyone this because of my profession, but I'm ashamed of myself."

"Go on," Thunderhoof urged, his grip on the still captive set of claws receding a tad. Sure, he could have gone about this another way, but he's a former mafia boss; gentle isn't in his vocabulary.

"I'm the older brother. I should be the strongest. I should be able to protect my younger brother. I should have been there for him. Instead, I was never around when he needed me. Whenever I did visit, he never particularly wanted my company. He was always working on a new project, and hated it whenever I interrupted his work. He prided himself on being the best. His arrogance was overwhelming."

"That hasn't changed," Thunderhoof mused. "An' as much as I would love to learn about Steeljaw's past, I ain't asking about that. What exactly does any of this have to do with what's wrong with you?"

"I am a spy, and as such, I had to rely on my wits and speed. Not to say that I didn't learn how to fight; I did. How else was I supposed to defend myself? I fought a pretty decent amount during my early career. Sometimes all I would ever do is fight, if it was necessary for the mission.

Enter the Great War.

While I was a good fighter, I was deemed a better spy than a combatant. No matter what mission I was sent on, there was always one rule: never engage. Don't ask me why, because even I don't know that, but I digress. Since then, I've hardly been in any fights, unable to really improve, to become stronger. In time, Steeljaw became stronger than me. A better fighter than me. So, when Thundertron ambushed us…"

"You felt useless."

Phantomjaw vented and averted his gaze.

"Yeah. After we reunited, I noticed Steeljaw was injured. I asked him about it, and he told me what happened with Thundertron. That… That he was…"

"I know. He told us."

"After you forced it out of him."

Thunderhoof just shrugged.

"Anyway, after he told me what happened, I realized that he suffered because he didn't have anyone strong enough to help him. Yes, he knows how to handle himself, but that doesn't mean he didn't need help, and I wasn't around when I should have been."

"Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"You saw how broken he was! It. Wasn't. Him. My brother has always been strong-willed and hard-working, ambitious and fearless. He never stays down! I don't believe I need to tell you these things."

Thunderhoof didn't answer. There wasn't a need to. Phantomjaw accepted the other mech's silence.

"I have never seen him like that before. What Thundertron did to him… I just wish I could have been there. I could have done something. I could have been useful. Instead, I was only able to offer comfort long after the incident. But then what happened earlier today?"

"C'mon, no way any of us could've beaten him," Thunderhoof tried to reassure the black and white Lupicon. He didn't want to admit that he had felt intimidated by Thundertron, but if saying these things would get Phantomjaw to calm down and go back to annoying him – like he would prefer – then he'll suck it up and work through it.

"Uh, Thunderhoof?"

"Hm?"

"Satisfied? Are you done interrogating me? I mean, I know I was all over the place, but give me a break! Socializing in a serious manner isn't exactly one of my specialties."

"Hadn't noticed."

Phantomjaw laughed.

"Right. Anyway, can you let go of my servo now? You've been crushing it for ages, and it's starting to really hurt."

"Oh, so now you don't mind complaining about your pain?"

"Different kind of pain, and I'm very attached to my claws, so if you could just…"

Thunderhoof snorted, amused by Phantomjaw's apparent fickle personality, and released the captive servo. When he pulled away, he noticed just how much damage he actually did.

"Wow, quite a grip you got!" Phantomjaw commented, gingerly rubbing the crumpled plating of his wrist joint.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get you in and patched-up, again," Thunderhoof rumbled, collecting the injured mech in his arms. He rose to his hooves and headed inside.

"You do realize the others are going to ask questions."

"They can go frag themselves for all I care."

Phantomjaw chuckled. He relaxed in the protective, dare-say gentle hold of the Cervicon, pressing his helm against the other's chassis.

"Glad to know my brother found someone else big and strong, and I guess smart enough, to rely on for the past few orbital cycles."

Thunderhoof stopped and gawked at the mech he was carrying.

"You guess? Are you saying I'm stupid?"

Phantomjaw failed to choke back a laugh.

"You're so easy to rile-up! I think I'm gonna really like you."

That… Thunderhoof wasn't sure what to think of. He quietly continued towards the med-bay.

"Nothing to say?" Phantomjaw inquired, tilting his helm. Thunderhoof briefly glanced down, and wished he hadn't.

Dammit! Why does he look so cute like that?

"Hoof?"

"Do you like me?"

Thunderhoof stopped, turned, and whacked his helm against the wall.

Frag, why did I ask that? Why was that the first thing that came out of my mouth?

"Why wouldn't I? You're funny!" Phantomjaw answered with an amused chuckle.

Primus, even his laugh is adorable!

"Okay, just clarifying: you aren't interested in me because I saved you?" Thunderhoof asked, not believing the other mech's reasoning, and yet, so desperately wanting it to be true.

"No, of course not!" Phantomjaw said, then explained further. "You see, my brother always had a thing for those like you. As a spy, I tend to notice things like that. And from what I can gather, you two are close. Not in the same way he and Ramulus are, obviously, and that intrigues me."

"So, what you're saying is…"

"You better get used to having me around, because I really want to get to know you."

If someone told him his faceplate turned as blue as his plating, Thunderhoof would believe them.

"This ain't a…"

"Not yet."

Levering his servos against cobalt blue armor, Phantomjaw leaned up and over and placed slow, tender licks to Thunderhoof's neck. The Cervicon shivered, either weirded out or aroused by such an intimate gesture and its implications.

"Let's just take it one step at a time, okay?"

"Fine by me."