re_alignment_logs

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WHO: Starscream (SG) + Cliffjumper
WHERE: Beating down CJ's door
WHEN: 4/14
WHAT: More energon event aftermath - CJ stop ignoring your friend.
WARNINGS: Dumb robots being dumb. Looking mostly at you, Cliffjumper

Starscream thought he was being fairly reasonable and patient. It was a week since the end of the effects of the energon wore off and Starscream decided that going out with Kagerou would be a great way to escape for a little bit. Since that time, a certain red mech didn't see fit to check in with Starscream at all. In fact, Cliffjumper seemed to never be around. It was obvious that the minibot was avoiding the flier and someone was quite done with it. Yes, there were likely some issues that they needed to talk about. That within itself was a little nerve wracking and Starscream was still anxious over some of those issues...

It didn't excuse them side stepping each other. They were friends. They were comrades. Too many times had they held each others' lives in their hands to let something like this drive a wedge between them. Most of all? Starscream missed Cliffjumper's company. Like it or not, that little angry mech had wormed his way into a very important spot in Starscream's ember and it hurt a little to think that this was going on. Granted, Starscream didn't really know what was going on between them. They didn't allow that fake date to do this, but the energon did?

No, he wasn't going to think about it. He was right in front of the minibot's door, shifting about awkwardly. The flier wasn't about to let this continue. Someone needed to be the mature adult, and despite the age differences, that apparently would need to be him. Huffing, he keyed in the code for the door, something he didn't want to do, but knocking meant that Cliffjumper would likely pretend he wasn't in - even though Starscream knew that he was. Starscream didn't want to disrespect the privacy of his friend, but if trapping him would finally end this stupidity, then so be it.

Immediately he stepped inside, likely locking the door behind him. "We need to talk."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Gah!"

Cliffjumper had jerked up straight where he sat on his berth cleaning his rifle when the door opened, whipping out a gun to aim at the door and the... intruder...

"... Starscream?" Even as he said it he looked down, scowling before he glanced up again, gun first dropping to point at the berth and then being put away as he shifted in his seat.

He knew he wouldn't be able to avoid the mech forever, and with Starscream standing right there he felt sort of bad about having done it. On the other hand, with Starscream right there it just brought up all the things he'd alternately tried to work through and to ignore through the week, and he was left squirming.

It should be easy to just ignore what had happened, but instead he kept going back to the kiss, how nice it had felt, but this was Starscream, so why would he...

"... Did you just fraggin' lock the door?!"

At least Starscream was decent enough to hide his chuckle behind a hand. It wasn't often that someone caught Cliffjumper that unaware. Cleaning the rifle meant that either Cliffjumper had been using it recently or that he was just maintaining it. Either one seemed to be a way to relieve some stress and tension. The flier vaguely wondered if that was the case or if he was hoping that the smaller mech was just as confused as he. Then he wouldn't feel so lost and alone with the situation and how to handle it.

"I did," Starscream replied, clearing his vocalizer. "Chances are high that you might have attempted some form of escape. I've been rather patient so I'm not about to let that happen."

It may have seemed harsh, but it was the truth. The scientist really didn't want either one of them going anywhere until they were comfortable with each other again. That wasn't going to be a small task either - especially since Starscream did enjoy everything that had happened for the duration of the energon's effects. Such thoughts only really served to twist him up more on the inside, unsure of what exactly his feelings on the matter were.

"It's just that... I miss you, I suppose."

Again, another truth. Starscream really did miss the company, even if it was only for just a lousy week. It felt like longer, knowing the minibot was actively ignoring and avoiding him.

He had been using the rifle (and his other weapons) a lot this week, because they afforded him a distraction and something to do while thinking.

"I wou--- frag, okay, I might have. Maybe," Cliffjumper admitted with a grumble, clutching the rifle tighter for a moment now that he had both hands free again to do so, his field fluttering before it stabilised again.

Optics flickering from the (locked) door beyond Starscream to the aerial himself, Cliffjumper grimaced. What the frag was he supposed to say to that? Beyond the fact that he sort of had too, even if he'd been secure in the knowledge that Starscream was, at least, all right?

He should maybe have asked Blurr or Ravage to check up on him and tell him how he was doing though...

"Ain't like I've gone anywhere. It's just... it's been... uh." Shrugging, Cliffjumper grimaced and bent his helm back down to the rifle, going back to the maintenance he'd been doing... his helm was tilted slightly upwards though, not quite looking at Starscream but not avoiding him either.

This was fragging stupid.

Starscream was a friend (and yeah, he could admit to that at least) and shouldn't that be enough, no matter what Blurr had thought?

No matter how that kiss had felt, even if they'd both been under the influence, so to speak?

He hoped the glow from the blush wasn't strong enough Starscream caught it and why was this still affecting him when he'd been thinking about this for a smelting week already?!

Thankfully, Starscream was missing Cliffjumper's brightened optics and the like. He was far too concerned with his own internal battles to try to figure out his friend's at the moment. Later, he would likely feel a little guilty for putting his own needs first, but right now? Right now Starscream needed to know that things would be all right between them again. It was unusual and odd to go for this amount of time without even seeing a ghost of each other in the hallway. A human year was nothing to them, yes, but strangely enough, Cliffjumper felt like a fixture in Starscream's life now. He wouldn't be able to do anything but notice the other's absence.

"You've been avoiding me," Starscream said, not leaving any room for them to beat around the bush. Knowing them both, they were liable to dance around the subject and come up with excuses. The flier didn't want this. Whatever happened between them to make them both react this way needed to be dealt with now.

However, the scientist didn't dare step further into the room. He did enough by essentially breaking in. Starscream didn't really want Cliffjumper to feel threatened or cornered ( though he kind of was ). Thus he kept a respectable distance away, fidgeting and wings tense with anxiety and worry. "I don't quite understand what could have caused it, but I'm sorry and I can't resolve the issue if you don't speak to me about it..."

"I---" Grimacing, Cliffjumper could deny it. He could, but what was the point of that when Starscream had brought it right out into the open? It was just...

Then Starscream continued and Cliffjumper jerked up straight, staring up at the aerial and ending up sputtering.

"H-hey! I might... kinda been avoidin' ya, but you do fraggin' remember what happened while we were... we... under the influence of those smeltin' crystals, right?!" One hand still clutching the rifle, the other basically flailed around as he tried, optics blush-bright, to bring up that one thing.

Starscream standing there by the doorway didn't bring up that warm, glittering flush in the circuits around his spark chamber now, but it did make him think of the kiss. It made him want to squirm, seeing the mech standing there (his wings were kinda stiff, weren't they?), and he also felt ridiculous because apparently Starscream either didn't remember all of what happened, or it didn't affect him the same way.

Cliffjumper wasn't sure what he thought about that.

Edited 2014-04-12 19:43 (UTC)

"Of course I remember what happened, Cliff," Starscream countered, hand rubbing at his face plates. "We didn't have this sort of issue with Blurr's blind date set up. Such events were beyond our control as well."

Granted, they were not kissing or cuddling during that time either. Blurr didn't make them do anything that they didn't want to. However... Starscream wasn't so sure that the kissing wasn't exactly unwanted at the present moment and his own optic started to go bright at the memory. The flier didn't exactly have a problem with what happened so much as how it happened.

He wasn't sure what he thought about that.

"I can only think that there's something else going on."

"That wasn't the same!" Sputtering, he pointed at Starscream and then gestured aimlessly with his arm again. "Except it sorta kinda was since Blurr tried to make it a fraggin' date and I kinda remember ya bein' flustered at first too, then there's been the kissin' and I---" Cutting himself off, Cliffjumper, optics flickering, just stared at Starscream.

"What else would be goin' on?" Letting go of the rifle to let it thump gently back into his lap, he threw both hands in the air and then slumped back, crossing his arms over his chestplates.

Maybe he was the only one affected by this... And wasn't that embarrassing?

"Ain't this enough?! You might not be affected but I didn't fraggin' think 'bout this before and now it's just---!" Another, not entirely voluntary cut-off as Cliffjumper's vocaliser went into neutral and he turned to glower at the berth.

Starscream seemed really calm.

"I-I've been thinking about nothing else since, you aft!" Starscream stuttered, nervous energy coming out in a burst that made his field that wobbled.

He huffed this time, trying to reign it in for what little good it would do. Wings twitching about now, the flier focused on the floor. His optics didn't dare watch Cliffjumper now. It was the truth, though. He was thinking about it all. A lot. To say that he wasn't affected by this sort of stung...

"Here I've been w-worried about you..."

That was a partial truth. Starscream was worried that something might have damaged their friendship. An irrational fear, he knew. Cliffjumper wouldn't something like this go on forever. Starscream shifted around, metal scraping with each movement. However, Starscream was also worried about something else that he didn't quite understand just yet. Perhaps Cliffjumper didn't find it all as enjoyable as Starscream did and that thought actually stung a little bit, but the scientist wasn't exactly in the best condition to poke at why it did.

And there went the calm. Maybe he shouldn't feel so smugly pleased at it, but it was such a sharp reminded that this was this Starscream, and it both helped - and amused him way too much, even if he himself was still flustered.

"I'm fine!" Cliffjumper snapped as he looked up at Starscream, not just hearing the stuttered fluster, but seeing it as well. He probably should feel guilty at that, but at least both of them were affected...

But was it in the same way?

"I ain't completely stupid, I know how to ask for help if I need it! It's just... You're..." Stuttering and then groaning, Cliffjumper dropped his optics and thought back on how he'd felt under the influence of the... pink? must have been - crystals.

It had both been harder and easier then, and, perhaps embarrassingly they'd also smoothed out some of his sharper edges. Cliffjumper doubted Starscream would tolerate them in anything other than their weird friendship.

With another groan, he rubbed a hand over his faceplate.

"It's fraggin' stupid! I didn't think 'bout this at all before Blurr did his thrice-slagged smeltin' blind-date, and then--- Then all... this and you're you and you're a good friend but this---!" Cliffjumper wasn't, precisely, yelling by the end.

He was just being loud.

"... stupid, fraggin' kiss," he grumbled quietly, voice abruptly dropping but he wasn't consciously trying to not be heard even if he probably wanted to be unheard because he was so slagging flustered and angry (at himself).

"It was a bit more than just a kiss," Starscream muttered in return, wings sagging a little. The 'but this was ringing in his processor. That shouldn't have been so disappointing, but it sort of was. Puzzling and confusing...

He still didn't look directly at Cliffjumper. The flier didn't know if he would like what he saw there or not. Instead his optics flickered from floor to wall and back again. His friend was sort of all over the place. Embarrassed was more like it, really. Starscream recognized all of the signs sure enough, but the source? That was something the flier was never fully sure of.

"You're embarrassed," he tried, almost repeating it dumbly. "Was it really that bad o-or were you hoping to experience that with someone else? It's not l-like they would hold it against you or anything, considering we were under the influence of the crystals..."

Now he was just tossing out random thoughts, not knowing where he was going with it all. Emotions were too complicated.

It had, indeed, been more than just a kiss, and Cliffjumper's optics flared and his field wobbled - it had just been cuddling, but he wasn't overly cuddly by nature, so that was enough to be flustering.

And then Starscream...

Starscream.

"I--- It wasn't--- No!" That was a squawk as Cliffjumper threw his hand out, gesturing at Starscream, then at himself and then he just gave up and threw both hands up in the air.

He was way too flustered to deal with Starscream's stuttering and those stupid (adorable) sagging wings and he---

"I wasn't thinkin' of kissin' anyone else! Or anyone at all!" Unable to sit still, he jumped off the berth and stomped up to Starscream, jabbing a finger into the plating right above his cockpit. "But that... that slaggin' kiss made me think of kissin' you!"

... Realising what he'd just said, what he'd just admitted to, Cliffjumper's optics went near-white and huge and then he skittered backwards, throwing a glance at the door beyond Starscream but the slagger had probably changed the code and it'd take too long to get out and it was a pity, his power wasn't becoming intangible but creating glass gas.

He felt like sinking through the floor.

At first, Starscream flinched with the shouting. Even his wings twitched in response. He knew that something was bothering the other mech...

However it was hard to not look at the little mech when said nuisance was jabbing at his armor. His field spiked again, optics too bright. He most certainly would be given away now, blush too intense to ignore. That, though, was the least of his concerns. Cliffjumper's words were swimming in his processor. Thinking of kissing him... That was... Well it shook his circuitry all right. Starscream was elated.

"Y-you..." he stammered in return, his field going just about everywhere. Starscream didn't get to finish though, since Cliffjumper was practically backpedaling away like he had touched something and got burned for his efforts.

Starscream placed a hand over his mouth. He worked to get control of the intensity of his field. The static that was building up in his vocalizer also needed cleared so he reset it. What he didn't control was the little twitch of his wings. "T-to be honest... I didn't exactly m-mind it myself..."

That first kiss. Starscream thought of it a lot in the last week. Cliffjumper let something slip, so Starscream would in return.

He'd felt the jangle of Starscream's field against his own, but he missed the bright optics in his flustered kind-of-anger and then didn't catch up to Starscream blushing before he was well across the room.

But he could just be embarrassed at what Cliffjumper had said, embarrassed for him and---

Hands tightening into fists, Cliffjumper's flustered blush didn't abate. He wasn't even sure he felt relieved at what Starscream had said. He couldn't tell beyong the jagged mess of nervous charge flooding his systems as his engine revved intermittently, and the circuitry around his spark chamber felt hot.

If this was how things went when it went well, Cliffjumper wasn't sure he liked it. He'd had... crushes before, of course. One he nursed still, though hero-worship wasn't just a crush, but either way, he hadn't ever much admitted to them, if this was a crush.

It was all because Blurr made him think about Starscream in the possibility of more than a friend, and then the thrice-scrapped pink energon--!!

"... it... wasn't. Bad no," Cliffjumper finally spat out, optics going away from being plastered - somewhat like a cornered organic animal - at Starscream to land on the desk he stood beside instead. "If that was fraggin' all though it wouldnt--- slag it all - be this... like this! You're... I keep fraggin' thinking--"

He shook his helm sharply, cuting himself off, too embarrassed to continue after his slip about thinking about the kiss. Because that was just the surface of it, wasn't it?

The kiss wasn't the be-all and end-all of it. It was what might come with it that was making a stupid mess of everything.

Starscream finally groaned. He wasn't embarrassed at all about the things that he said. The flier was more nervous and anxious than anything else. Perhaps there was some excitement and a little bit of something else that he didn't know how to place.

The red mech wasn't good with words or emotions. As his friend, Starscream read his body language more than anything in these situations. Right now the scientist wasn't able to. He needed to hear words because there was something going on here. Starscream started to pace instead, trying to process those words instead. It was so fragmented that he latched onto 'if that was all' meaning there was more to it than just the fact that there was a kiss at all.

"This is what is so fragging confusing," he admitted, stopping his pacing to sit in the chair he had been in just a few weeks ago. His hands were holding his helm. "You're embarrassed because of something you can't get out and I..."

His optics became bright once more and he shifted in that chair. "I... Do you trust me?"

There was an idea swimming in his processor. He wasn't sure it was a good one, but...

Shifting away from Starscream as he came to sit down, Cliffjumper froze a few steps away, before he could protest that he was embarrassed. Because he was, but admitting to that wasn't what he wanted to do.

Or have Starscream point it out, rather.

"... You?" Cliffjumper muttered slowly, eyeing Starscream from a few steps away.

This whole thing was fragging embarrassing because he... Well, it was just the whole thing with that this was Starscream. And sometimes he still was (perhaps a bit shamefully) too amused when Starscream was uncomfortable or whatever.

None of that could take away from the very prominent thought of the fact that the kiss had been nice (had that just been because of the pink energon crystal effect?) and he did care.

Cared more than he thought he did, apparently, and...

"... What's that got to do with anything?!" It was an immediate snap reaction as he barked out the words, and then he shook his helm, engine grumbling. "... yeah. Sure."

To show that he actually did, Cliffjumper slid back closer to Starscream, frowning up at him.

"Then I need you to not jump or flinch away for a second," Starscream muttered.

There was something that he needed to know. Was his memory of the kiss and how nice it felt just a lingering effect of the crystals or was it genuine... This was what was bothering Starscream. What the flier had in mind would tell him for sure if it was only the pink crystals at work or if he was actually attracted to the minibot, in a physical sense of course. Naturally he also cared for the red mech a great deal. Starscream, for as brilliant as he was, simply hadn't put two and two together when it came to matters of the "heart" such as this.

He was careful when he drew closer to Cliffjumper, even going so far as to go down to his knees. Starscream, of course, would wait for the minibot to give him the go ahead or would back off if shoved away. His field was pretty erratic, jumping around due to Starscream's jumbled emotional state. Nerves. Fear. Fondness coupled with a sense of longing. The flier didn't have the time to sort everything out. He vented some air, as if that would calm him down long enough to have the courage to proceed. Wings taut and tense, his fingertips danced along a red arm for a moment, Starscream's optics far too bright.

Speaking off optics, he offlined them in the next instant. He didn't think he would be able to do this while watching for reactions. Yet those fingers found their way to Cliffjumper's faceplates and Starscream, wings twitching again in nervous energy, very cautiously kissed Cliffjumper of his own accord. Nothing made him do it this time but his own sheer will. Funny though, how nothing really felt different. Like in his memory, there was a pleasant buzz in his circuitry. His ember felt warm and continued to spread that warmth through his frame. That, for the scientist, was confirmation enough.

Knowing that he was probably going to get hit or squawked at, Starscream really didn't give Cliffjumper a change to push him or even return the brush of lips and static. The Decepticon just leaned back, ducking his helm down a bit to hide his own blush. His wings, though, told a different story. They were fluttering a touch, betraying how content that Starscream felt in that one instant. He cleared his vocalizer then, waiting for whatever it was that would happen next. "S-sorry... I-I needed to know. I should have warned you or asked first s-so I'm s-sorry..."

Just don't shut him out again because of that. One thing he did know, now, was that Starscream did enjoy the contact. Perhaps what Blurr was saying to him in the oil baths wasn't entirely that far fetched after all.

It was hard to stand still and just wait for whatever it was Starscream wanted to do. Especially when his field was like that, jagged and twitching and flaring all over.

Cliffjumper wasn't the most calmest at the moment either, but the jabbed brushes of Starscream's EM field against and into his own just made him all the more anxious, shifting on his feet and hands tightening into fists at his sides and then relaxing.

Then Starscream leaned in and really, he should've realised right then what was going to happen. But the brush of lips against his still took him by surprise and everything narrowed down to that and it...

Felt exactly like it had the first time.

Faintest stirring of static and the slight catch of metal against metal almost causing friction and---

And then it was gone and Starscream was straightening up and what had just happened? Why had it happened?

Cliffjumper stared, optics wide and bright and his engine stuttered a little while it alternately flooded his frame with energy and then cut it off and he just---

"Wh--What the slag was that for!?" One hand flew up to touch his lips and Cliffjumper couldn't decide where to look; Starscream, the floor, a wall, those fluttering wings or... what.

"W-what'd that even... besides bein' nice why did you---" He flailed, angry, embarrassed and just as confused as before.

Beyond the confirmed fact that the kiss had felt precisely as nice as earlier, of course. What did this even mean? Did Starscream want to... to try something? Did he just do it to see if it felt the same? What?

The most ironic thing about the situation that, while Cliffjumper became more and more unsettled was the fact that Starscream grew calmer. Confusion that once settled in his field now leveled out. Some of the issues that he hadn't figured out sort of clicked into place. It made it so that Starscream would be able to think more clearly about this situation and perhaps smooth over Cliffjumper's confusion and unease as well. Hard to say with that one, though, considering that Starscream really didn't know how the little red mech felt about all of that.

Given the blush at the stuttering, however, and the way that the minibot was avoiding him for a while? How Cliffjumper more or less admitted that their brief kiss still felt nice? The flier wondered if the other wasn't struggling with some of the very same issues that Starscream himself had.

"I wasn't lying when I said I had been thinking about the last few weeks over the course of this last one," Starscream began, static working itself out of his vocalizer and actually back to normal. "What confused me so much was that I wasn't actually upset about what happened - rather I looked back on those memories quite fondly - but more about how it happened."

Starscream didn't like the thought that something was controlling his actions - that something he considered fairly intimate would be dictated by something other than true ember or spark-felt emotions. He sighed at the thought and pushed on. "So I wanted, no needed, to know if the fact that I kind of liked what happened between us was also influenced by the crystals. Kissing you was the only way I really knew how to determine that."

At that, even he didn't exactly stop the little smile that came to his lips as he touched them in return. "I can't say that I've figured everything out, but that fondness is genuine."

"Yeah, well, been kinda hard to think of nothin' but," Cliffjumper muttered, crossing his arms over his chestplates, glaring at the floor.

Then his helm shot up, optics widening and brightening before he immediately looked away again, going still just not to shift around on his feet out of flustered nervousness.

Was Starscream actually saying what it sounded like..?

This was the fragging oddest thing he'd ever been involved in, Cliffjumper was absolutely sure.

His field flexed and flared out at the mention of the recent kiss, but even as he opened his mouth and then closed it again, he remained quiet.

What the frag was he even supposed to say?

This was just...

"I... uh--- Suppose that's... good?" Scowling at at that, Cliffjumper's arms tightened against his chestplates. That wouldn't fragging do.

He could... maybe... say what he thought he felt. He just wasn't sure, no matter how nice the kisses had been and... maybe, the cuddling (he wouldn't admit to that though) and what he... apparently, felt for and about Starscream.

"Fraggin' pit--- I mean, yeah I... it's the... er, same?" Immediately, Cliffjumper's field skittered out and in in jagged embarrassment and his optics brightened with a blush.

If he could slap himself he would. Why wasn't this easier?

No yelling or smacking... Cliffjumper was almost more nervous and flustered than previously. Starscream made a move to go back to the seat, as if to give the minibot some space. Starscream wasn't going to force the other to spew all his feelings on the matter. However, this issue needed dealt with enough that they would be able to speak to each other normally again. That much would be forced. The flier would only allow Cliffjumper enough time to compose himself as much as possible.

'It's the same' as if Starscream was supposed to instantly know what that was referring too. There were times it was hard to understand what was really being said when Cliffjumper just wouldn't spit it out. The vagueness was not helping.

"I would say take a deep breath, but that doesn't exactly help us now does it?" he chuckled, cracking at least one joke. "Take your time, Cliffjumper. There's no rush to push anything out of your vocalizer."

Starscream didn't need Cliffjumper to feel the same way. He wanted to know what was genuinely going on in the red mech's processor. If he needed a moment to sort himself out, that was fine. Starscream would offer his calmness through his field if he thought that it would help. He didn't want to smother the other or influence whatever thought processes that Cliffjumper needed to go through.

"Take a moment and clear your processor. Then try again."

"Fraggin' pit, Starscream!" He threw his arms up, exasperated and frustrated, even if Starscream was just trying to help.

"... fine." Sort of taking the advice of 'a deep breath', Cliffjumper overrode the usual vent cycle, held it in and then let it out slowly and reset his vocaliser as well.

"I just meant... that I, uh... think I feel--- rrr, the same," Cliffjumper muttered, arms crossed over his chestplates and staring at the floor. "Never fraggin' looked at it before all this but ya know, maybe---" His vocaliser went briefly into static and he shifted on his feet, still staring at the floor.

"Now, now, Cliffjumper," the flier huffed, arms crossing over his chest. "There is no need to get overly upset with me."

Normally he would be patient, but this time? This time even Starscream is a little sensitive to what is going on. What happened involved him as well and pitching a little fit wasn't going to get them anywhere. The scientist already struggled enough in coming to terms with some of his leanings so therefore Cliffjumper should be a little more sympathetic. Their struggle, it was the same. Yet despite that, Starscream's main priority now was to help the minibot as much as he could.

While the red mech conceded and followed the "advice," the flier leaned back in the chair. He listened, hand stroking at his chin a bit. There was a pause before he responded, but his optics never once left Cliffjumper.

"Maybe you have been giving it some thought like I have," Starscream finished, softly. There was nothing wrong with that.

He'd have rolled his optics if he hadn't been busy trying to settle himself a little, though Starscream's comment got a snort. He totally hadn't been suppressing the urge to shift around while Starscream was silent, nope.

"What'd ya think I've been doin' this week? I can think and shoot at the same time after all." Rubbing a hand over his faceplate, Cliffjumper looked up at Starscream with a scowl that was more confusion than frustration.

"It's just... I don't fraggin' know. You're a slaggin' exasperation and you're... Starscream," it was totally necessary for him to throw his hands out to indicate the whole of the mech, field fluttering in jagged nervousness... as well as fondness, "and I've never fraggin' thought I'd ever feel... um. Like I... apparently do."

Ducking his helm and shifting on his feet more for the need to move (he'd never use the word 'shy' but it was probably what fit the best) than to avoid looking at Starscream, Cliffjumper tilted his helm to cast an angled look back up, a slight twitch of lopsided smile on his faceplate.

"You're... apparently more important to me than I... uhm, was aware of."

Starscream's arms crossed over his chest. He didn't understand what his designation had to do with anything. Yes, he was Starscream. The little red mech was Cliffjumper. So what? Was there something that he was missing here - like some cosmic law that forbade them from having any sort of feelings towards each other?

Instead of saying anything, the flier just watched Cliffjumper. Some of his thoughts were derailed by the following statement and then the movement. While Cliffjumper would never use the word 'shy,' but the Decepticon surely would. That shifting of metal was shy, almost adorable. Starscream would keep the comment to himself, even if he didn't quite stop the slow smile growing on his faceplates. It was hard not to, seeing that little grin on the minibot's.

Hearing those words though might as well have been a confession with how elated Starscream was. His ember soared, sending nice little waves of heat through his systems. There was an urge to touch Cliffjumper, but Starscream suppressed it easily enough. Just because apparently the feelings of fondness were mutual didn't give the flier the right to do anything of the sort. No one even said that anything was going to come of this anyway. While that thought dampened his spirits, there was not going to be a push for that.

"I'm not sure that I understand what me being Starscream has to do with anything," Starscream admitted, "you are a very important person to me as well."

It was an important distinction. Starscream would tell Cliffjumper how important he was to them, the cause. The flier often praised people. To make the claim that the other was important on a personal level was new, even for him. Funny how easy it was to say it as well. Then he cleared his vocalizer for what he was about to say. "To be honest, I know you all tease me about Megatron, but he is a good friend. A great companion and confidant, but that is all. After giving this some thought, Cliffjumper, you are these things but also more. You give me courage and confidence as well as making sure I have my logic circuits in order. How I didn't see that I had feelings for the mech that's had my back since we headed out on this crazy mission is beyond me."

Starscream gave a little bit of a snort. "As ridiculous as it sounds, I am better for having you at my side."

"Trust me, it does" Cliffjumper could probably tell him precisely why Starscream being Starscream had everything to do about it, but it'd involve Starscream's positive polarity alternate/s and how he was both an alternate and was so very different and...

Things like that.

So it was simply easiest that he didn't elaborate and just snort, ducking his helm under the comment of him being important to Starscream as well. He couldn't quite contain the tilt of his helm and the arched upper optic ridge he gave Starscream when he claimed he and Megatron were simply good friends... partly to tease him and partly because it seemed improbable.

But he wouldn't protest because if Starscream said that's how it was...

"... Starscream," Cliffjumper huffed the scientist's name out, field jagging briefly before he got control of it. Why did he have to go and say things like that? It was, faintly, rather incredible that he'd have a Decepticon saying that about him, but then, this was not the regular sort of Decepticon and he knew that.

They were like the Autobots where he came from, even if they were as much Autobots as he would admit to being a Decepticon (even if others in the negative polarity reality called him such.)

"So... uh. What do we... do?"

Because just not doing anything about all this when there'd been so much fragging energy spent on it was just a waste.

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