Megastar Week 2022

Day 2 - Yearning

Megatron didn't often go to Vos.

He decided it was simply respectful.

However, today he needed to, to be seeing Skywarp for something. Skywarp was his Air commander, of course, so he had to now and then, but normally, he didn't.

As he strolled the halls, he noticed a young, and small seeker. A rather familiar one, painted in white, blue, and red - Starscream. He decided to approach, coming over to the seeker's side.

Now as he stood beside Starscream, he properly noticed. He was stood before a grand painting of his own father- his late-father, the former King/Winglord of the city and it's civilians. His gaze at the painting was a mix of desperation, pain, and longing.

"Hello, Starscream." He greeted.

"Hi." The young seeker returned halfheartedly, not looking from the painting.

"I notice you're analyzing your sire's painting."

"Mhm." Starscream simply hummed, not bothering to correct him.

It was quiet for a long few moments.

"Are you missing him, Starscream?"

He was quiet. "...yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

It was quiet again, and neither spoke for a while. Right as Megatron was going to take it as a 'no', Starscream spoke up. "I'm not sure."

It was silent again. "You're yearning." Megatron said eventually.

"Well, duh." Starscream said, somewhat sarcastically. "I mean, I never really got to meet him- to know him."

Megatron hummed, gently imploring for him to continue.

"At least TC and 'Warp got to meet their creators. I never did. 'Warp knew his carrier for about five vorns, and TC knew his for three. And that may not be long in terms of children, but it was at least something. It's better than just eight orns, with little more than a bond that was gone faster than it was formed." Starscream said, somewhat resentfully.

Megatron hummed, gently petting a wing, particularly in a spot that shouldn't lead to arousal or anything.

Another stretch of silence reigned through the air, as Megatron thought, and Starscream stared at the painting.

"If it makes you feel any better, Starscream," Megatron began. "I've often found myself yearning and craving to have my own back." Megatron admitted, in a smaller voice, and Starscream looked him, almost surprised.

"Just to have them back, and make everything right again. I long for everything they provided, and that they were. I may not have liked how stoic and un-empathetic Evergreen was, but I loved him regardless. He and Eclipsical raised me through five vorns of my life, early on. They filled the places of creators." He explained. "But, they're gone. They were robbed from me and Orion. The system separated us, and that time, those fourteen vorns, we will never get back. It's all gone." He finished with a whisper.

Starscream simply listened, shocked. It was quite a tale, and he wasn't sure what to say in response.

"Orion wasn't even three back then, and now he hates his birthday, and the entire month, because of what happened. I was seven, and despite that I had a job to do, a responsibility to uphold, to keep my little brother safe, through thick and thin, no matter what - I failed." There was a pause. "I know I did. After all, wouldn't things have been better for Orion if I had done something right?" His tone was guilty, and obviously upset.

"You didn't fail, he's probably still a good mech." Starscream said, even if a touch oblivious.

"Maybe, but he should've been safe. Protected from those monsters. That was my job, and now, he's gone. He was a lamb sent to slaughter. And slaughtered him, they did. He may be a good mech in some form, but it doesn't change that I wasn't there to protect him, like I was supposed to."

It was silent for a stretch.

"Orion doesn't have all that many memories of them, so he may know something of how you're feeling, probably better than I do." He remarked. "Regardless of it, though." He settled a hand on Starscream's shoulder, and looked at him in the optics. "I'm sincerely sorry for your loss, and everything you missed out on."

Starscream simply stared back, with tears in his optics, before looking at the painting again.

"It's just... it's not fair."

"I know. Sometimes life isn't fair. And trust me, when I say, I hate it just as much as you do."

"Skywarp always tells me to do things in his honor." Starscream said. "But I don't get how that helps. It just makes me sad to think of 'what if he was here, right now?'"

"Sometimes it helps move through the process better. It's in a way a coping mechanism, while mourning."

"And what does that mean?" The seeker asked with a sassy bite to his voice.

"Moments like this show you're in that process. Going through the stages of grief. Doing things in the late-individual's honor or memory is something I personally find to be a part of perseverance, and acceptance." He explained.

"I have accepted it." Starscream firmly stated.

"I know." Megatron replied. "But you're still grieving. And that's okay." He assured. "But the best way to go about it, is to let yourself grieve. You're nothing less for it. It means you're processing it, and processing is the first step to moving forward, past the pain."

"Then where am I in this process now?" He asked, not truly believing the older mech.

"Right now, in this moment in time?" Megatron rhetorically asked. "You're in depression."

Starscream looked at him, about to bite something out. "Don't." Megatron simply said, stopping him. "It's natural. Let yourself. It'll help. It'll make things feel better, make it easier."

"...you're sure?" Starscream hesitantly asked, after a long quiet moment.

"Yes. I am." Megatron answered simply.

They were silent, as Starscream gently snaked into Megatron's side, and simply gazed at the painting, while Megatron let him, wrapping his arm around the seeker's shoulders, in a comforting way, as they stood there, and silently mourned, and yearned for their respective late-creators.