♫ Five times my muse swears it’s not a date, and the one time it maybe is.
1. Their first interaction that day truly is unintentional: bumping into one another in the mess at the energon dispenser, both of them collecting their daily ration.
2. That Starscream accompanies Knock Out to refuel together in the doctor’s quarters is hardly indicative of anything like intimacy
3. Neither is Knock Out’s offer of company later that cycle, some time off-ship to stretch their wheels (or wings, in Starscream’s case); nor is Starscream’s acceptance of said offer.
4. If they find themselves lingering once the planet’s night-cycle has begun, it’s merely a result of pushing themselves too harshly, requiring a moment’s rest before making their way back to the ship.
5. And when they return once again to Knock Out’s quarters in a tangle of limbs and heavy ventilations, fans working overtime in an attempt to dump the excess heat building in their frames–
Well. This is merely their latest arrangement in action. A simple matter of give-and-take. Convenience; that’s all it is.
+1. When Knock Out rouses him well before either of them is due for a shift, Starscream very nearly tells him to frag off. But something about the doctor’s tone, the excited way he tugs him from the berth, quiets any protests the Seeker might have. He instead allows himself to be led through the halls of the Nemesis, ascending to the upper deck and higher, slipping through a hatch and outside, onto the ship’s roof.
The sight nearly stalls his ventilations.
The sky is painted now in vibrant shades of orange and gold, fading to pink around the edges; a turn of his helm, and he sees black speckled with pinpricks of light, retreating toward the horizon pursued by blue.
He looks back to the hatch, where Knock Out is smiling knowingly at him; smug, even.
And for once, Starscream’s internal protests are silent.