Summary: Danny's been working on a surprise for his favorite seeker.
Danny had spent weeks preparing, poring over Soundwave's old files and historical records from Cybertron before the war. Danny would slip into Soundwave's storage rooms whenever the communications officer wasn't around, sifting through his archives. There were hours of audio recordings from the city of Vos, where the Seekers originated, documenting their unique language filed with high tones and clicks.
He'd listened over and over, repeating the phrases to himself, experimenting with the cadence and pitch, trying to match the nuances of the language. The first few times he'd spoken aloud in the empty storage room, it had sounded all wrong. It was quite different from the language spoken by the other Cybertronians on the ship. And even more different from the guttural horrifying sounds of echoing Goulish. But Danny was nothing if not persistent. It had taken countless tries, stumbling over words, getting the clicking sounds just right, and learning how to make his voice resonate higher in his head for how high-pitched the notes made it.
While most of the language had been lost over the years Danny was able to uncover some recordings of snippets of casual conversations, war cries, and even poetry. Even though some of them were corrupted Danny had listened to everyone, picking up vocabulary and phrases, trying to get a feel for how the language changed with tone and context.
Danny wanted to surprise Starscream. To show him that someone cared enough to learn his language. And he was so excited to reveal all of the hard work he put into this. He just hoped the Seeker appreciated it.
Danny sat in his little designated area of Starscream's room, waiting for the right moment, bubbling with excitement and barely holding himself together.
Starscream sat at his massive desk, his back turned to Danny, muttering under his breath as he sorted through datapads. His wings twitched with agitation as his, long, talon-like fingers drummed against the desk in a rapid, repetitive motion.
Danny stood up and moved closer to the edge of the shelf. With a determined smile. Swaying from foot to foot. "You're always so stressed lately," Danny said, in flawless Vosian.
Starscream's frame went ridged, his optics widening in disbelief. He turned his helm, gaze snapping to the small human across the room from him who had the biggest grin plastered on his face.
"What did you just say?" Starscream asked in disbelief.
Danny grinned wider, knowing that he had just thrown the seeker off completely. He crossed his arms and repeated himself, this time with more emphasis. "I said, you're always so stressed lately. You should really take a break ." The clicking and high-pitched tone of the language was impossible to miss.
Starscream stared at him, completely silent for a few moments. His optics flickered and his wings twitched again, though now, Danny noticed, it wasn't from irritation, but confusion. "You… You speak Vosian? " His words came out more cautious now, less demanding, and more genuine bafflement.
"Yep!" Danny nodded enthusiastically. "I've been practicing. Soundwave had some recordings I managed to weasel out of him, and, well… " He shrugged nonchalantly, smiling at the seeker's baffled expression. "I thought it'd be cool to talk to you in your own language."
Starscream stood from his desk and walked over to the small, overjoyed human, still processing what he was hearing. Vosian wasn't just a language — it was something deeply personal, something he hadn't had a full conversation in since the war began. His wings fluttered as he struggled to find the right words.
Starscream looked conflicted and confused as to why Danny would have put all this effort in. "Why?" He finally asked.
Danny softened, understanding the question went beyond just language. "Because it's a part of who you are. And I figured… it might be nice to have someone else who gets it. Who can speak to you in a way no one else here can."
When Danny first died, he would accidentally slip into Goulish all the time. Jazz had spent months learning it, trying to get it perfect so that whenever Danny ended up getting too emotional and switching to the language she could understand. She may not have been able to speak it because she didn't have the same type of vocal cords that a ghost has, but her being able to understand him, knowing that he had someone so willing to put in the effort to understand him… That was what was so meaningful, and he wanted to be that for Starscream.
Starscream blinked, and Danny could feel appreciation and joy spring up in the seeker's field as much as he tried to stomp it down. "Well, I must say, your pronunciation is… decent." He looked Danny over, clearly impressed despite himself. "But it could still use some work."
Danny just grinned wider, seeing through the glass facade. "Well, how about you teach me then."
Starscream huffed but couldn't help the small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. For a brief moment, the atmosphere shifted. He hadn't realized how much he missed hearing his own language, or how much it would mean to have someone else care enough to learn it. Even if it was this strange, reckless human.
"Perhaps… you're not completely insufferable after all," Starscream muttered, his wings settling into a more relaxed position.
Danny laughed, leaning back. "I'll take that as a compliment."
The rest of the evening, Starscream abandoned his datapads and left his work for future Starscream to deal with, as he sat down with the human across from him to properly educate him on the pronunciation of certain words and the correct lilt ascribed to each one. Danny sat and listened carefully before continuing. Eventually, Danny ended up passing out on Starscream's desk, leaning up against the con's arm. And the Con decided not to move the small delicate human – Primus knows that human never slept enough.
Authors Notes
Beta read by Arvensia
I love my babies so much! I hope you enjoyed them too, have a great day :D