starscheme | When things are going well, Starscream doesn't take anything seriously ever.

When things are going well, Starscream doesn't take anything seriously ever.

It had been a while since the Decepticons had tasted victory. Not in trade off with defeat, of course. This campaign had simply been an abysmally long one, with neither side gaining ground or relenting for months. It had been exhausting, draining even... Then suddenly, a few days ago, the tides had finally changed in their favor, and a mere few hours ago they had secured the last autobot base on this alien planet.

It was a particularly gratifying victory, both for finally ending such a long campaign and for the advantages it afforded them. Not only were the planets mines and energon now in Decepticon control, but they had captured a good amount of Autobot intel along with it.

Of course, there's no time for Decepticon command to take respite. While the rest of the troops are celebrating a raucous victory elsewhere on the ship, Starscream has to go meet with Megatron for further discussion on setting up a proper crew to remain on site and run things once the Nemesis has gone and moved onto the next battlefront. It's a necessary evil, but one that Starscream isn't too keen in dealing with at the moment. So when he saunters into Megatron's quarters, he has a bottle of high-grade Engex (a pilfered prize from one of the Autobot High-Command offices) and a glass clasped together in the talons of one hand, because if he's going to work he's at least going to make it so that he can enjoy himself... and maybe if he's lucky he'll get Megatron to indulge a bit as well. Bastard needed to relax a bit for once.

“Your loyal followers are all wondering where their glorious leader is and why he isn't down celebrating his victory with them,” Starscream says in a lazy drawl, setting both items down on the table at the center of the room with a soft clink.

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Megatron turns, taking in both Starscream and the engex with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

"My loyal followers know better than to assume that because their work here is finished, so is mine." There's a hint of amusement there, though, even as he emphasises loyal with the implication that this is a category that excludes his present company; despite his decision to abstain from partying, he's clearly in a good mood. Given the circumstances, it's hard not to be.

The implication isn't missed, but he's also in too good of a mood to take offense in even the slightest capacity. "My lord, your words wound me more than any Autobot bullet ever has," he sighs dramatically, though he is obviously amused as well.

In one fluid movement he locks his hands in front of him and stretches outwards, flexing his arms and wings both, and then plunks down in a chair at the table with a satisfied grunt. "You and I both know your work is never finished... but that doesn't mean we can't take a little time for celebration every now and then." He grabs the bottle and starts inspecting it with a benign curiosity. "So, what do we have left to settle out here?" he asks, eyes still on the Engex.

Megatron's optics linger on Starscream as he stretches, and after a moment's due contemplation he concedes to take a seat across from him.

"Nothing that will be sped along by the addition of a bottle of engex," he replies. "But somehow I doubt you came here with productivity in mind."

"Oh please, I was planning on saving it for after we had worked all of the important bits out." He reclines back in the chair lazily, looking up from the bottle and smirking when Megatron sits down. "Even still, who said that we can't mix work and pleasure? It's a time of celebration, and besides which I'm very excited about this find, it's a good label... the stuff they used to distill in Vos before the war. I didn't even think there was any of it left anywhere. Autobots must have been hoarding the remainder..."

He shrugs, and leans forward briefly enough to set the bottle back down on the table before reclining again, crossing one leg over the other. "Work first though. Cross my spark. I can even play the part of the obedient second for once and just smile and nod in approval of all your decisions for tonight, you have my attention."

He can't remember the last time he felt this exceedingly chipper, but it's certainly been a while.

Honestly, Megatron can't either, and he's amused but... not exactly wary, but he knows Starscream is easier to anticipate when he's dissatisfied – when there are clearly visible things liable to cause him to pull some kind of ill advised disobedient nonsense. When he's not in a foul mood it's far from any guarantee he'll behave, but it's not as simply done to predict when, why and how he won't. And Megatron, for his part, is in the right kind of mood that the prospect is an entertaining one more than anything else.

He chuckles, leaning back in his chair. "If I only required your attention in order to have you smile and nod, I wouldn't have summoned you here at all," he says, and despite all evidence to the contrary when it comes to Megatron having people around just to agree with him without question, he's not lying. "If you're going to put on a façade, Starscream, I'd prefer you play the competent second and offer a second opinion."

"Oh, very well," he says with another dramatic sigh, sitting up at the table again properly and crossing his hands in front of him. "Leave Skyquake and Thundercracker in command with a reasonable force of vehicons at their disposal and let Soundwave figure out the rest of the logistics as far as what resources they need. That's his job anyway." He looks almost comically bored.

That was part of his problem, really, when it came to his desire to lead. Half the time he just wanted to have all the clout and the respect without really doing any of the work for it aside from occasionally bossing other people around. Except when someone else was making the tough calls, and then he was convinced that they were making all of the wrong ones and certainly he could do much better. Frankly he didn't see the problem with this attitude, either. He reaches for the Engex bottle and cracks the top off of it with a quick twist, his lazy gaze still locked on Megatron.

"That's my recommendation. Anything else can wait until we've both had due time to celebrate as a reward for our good work, as far as I'm concerned." There was a bit of prickliness to that last statement, but it was of the sort that anyone who was familiar with Starscream would just come to expect from him on a regular basis, even in his best of moods.

Ah yes, there it is. Starscream's input is often worth asking for – when it needs to be asked for, that is, instead of being offered uninvited – but for all his entitlement he's lazy as hell. It's the kind of thing that makes Megatron irritated, a lot of the time, that someone with this kind of attitude thinks he's worthy of seizing control of everything Megatron has built – but then, he's the one who keeps Starscream on as his second in command, and at times like this it just makes him laugh to himself. In a way it's its own kind of reassurance.

Of course, the more immediately useful second opinion comes after Starscream opens the bottle; Megatron can't really deny that if he'd really wanted to spend all night working on those logistics then it's Soundwave he would have summoned.

He smiles slowly, and gives a considering nod.

"If you really believe the matter so simply settled..."

That smile was only encouraging. Such expressions from Megatron were not easily won. "I wouldn't say it's simply settled, just that the details aren't so urgent that we can't take a few hours to enjoy ourselves," he clarifies, pouring himself a glass and swirling it idly. "That is, if you're even capable of celebrating... when was the last time you cut loose, a few millenia ago?"

There's a challenging glint in his eye and he stares Megatron down from across the table, still swirling the glass. Starscream doesn't actually expect Megatron to partake (the fact that he neglected to bring a second glass was a notable indicator of that), but if his master showed the inclination... well, this was one thing Starscream didn't really mind sharing with him.

Edited 2014-05-09 21:24 (UTC)

"My address to the troops wasn't celebratory enough for you?" Personally Megatron feels that triumphant military speeches constitute celebration perfectly adequately – he certainly enjoys them, anyway, and he feels that today's was a particularly effective one – but he knows that isn't what Starscream means. He settles back in his chair, looking faintly amused. "How would you have me celebrate, Starscream?"

Starscream lets loose a bark of laughter, looking utterly delighted. "My dear Lord Megatron, are you asking me for advice on how to relax? Will wonders never cease..."

He bolts back part of his drink and sets the glass back down, an insufferable smirk spreading across his face, optics at a lazy half shutter as he leans back over onto the table, gaze honed in on Megatron. "Well the first step I'd always suggest is to celebrate with me, but seeing as I've already taken care of that part for you... You're welcome, by the way."

He hums for a moment, considering. There were any number of lewd and disrespectful answers he could give here, and while he was feeling confident he wasn't sure he wanted to risk spoiling the moment by saying something that could sour the mood. Then again, Megatron wasn't an idiot, and by now he had to be more than familiar with what Starscream's habit of lurking about his quarters beyond what his actual duties as second strictly necessitated usually facilitated.

"Personally, I would have you celebrate by attending to my whims, but I somehow doubt you'd be very amenable to that idea," he purrs cheekily.

Megatron laughs, not in the least bit surprised. He isn't asking for advice, of course, not really, but when he's sought Starscream's company just for the sake of having him around, handing him the reins – or rather, allowing him to think he has been handed the reins, offering him the possibility of being handed the reins – is invariably... entertaining.

"Ah – so rather than our hard-earned victory, you would have me celebrate you?" He chuckles. "Do you really think your part in this campaign so pivotal?" There's a clear note of sarcasm, but for now, it isn't the dangerous kind. He's teasing Starscream, rather than aggressing him – almost daring him to argue that he was exactly that pivotal.

Despite his overconfidence, Starscream looks almost... sheepish, for a moment at least, like he's not sure what the best way to respond to that question is. His brows creases with a mild worry and his wings droop a bit, though he's still grinning in a good natured manner. “Well surely I deserve at least a little credit for all of the hard work I do for you. Reward for a job well done does wonders for morale, after all.” He perks up once more, lifting his glass to finish the rest of his drink. “Otherwise I'm going to start getting the impression that you don't appreciate me," he says with a haughty whine, though it's clear he's still joking.

Edited 2014-05-12 16:45 (UTC)

Starscream can be so predictable. Megatron watches him with amusement as he wilts in a brief moment of humility only to swing back to justifying himself, almost at once – it's like a microcosm of the entire Starscream experience.

"Perhaps," he agrees, as if considering the matter, "a little."

He groans and practically plunks his chin down on the table to peer back up at Megatron with the most exaggeratedly pathetic look he can muster. He's perfectly lucid, but the high-grade is making his already absurd mannerisms more exaggerated than usual. "I swear, getting any sort of approval from you is like trying to turn water to Energon. What's a poor mech to do?"

Naturally he doesn't actually expect any real sympathy from Megatron. In fact, if nothing else he expects his behavior to be mildly irritating, his bait of choice when fishing for attention. Most of their interactions involved Starscream obnoxiously heckling Megatron at any rate, it was just a matter of what the intent behind it was in each particular case.

This time, he was actually starting to get mildly frustrated and impatient, even if his overall mood was generally positive. He wishes to be in control of the situation so badly, but getting Megatron to play along isn't going his way.

Megatron gives a snort of laughter. If Starscream's going to start whining then he isn't going to get to be in control of anything.

"I find myself unconvinced," he tells him. "This hardly seems like the attitude of a key player in a great victory over our hated foes."

He raises enough to prop himself up one elbow. "Alright then big shot, what would you consider the proper attitude to be, hmm?"

He's clearly trying to take a page from Megatron's book by being infuriatingly coy and unimpressed, and turn the tables by making Megatron take the lead, but it's a rather pathetic attempt.

"Personally," says Megatron, leaning forward so that his optics are level with Starscream's, "I find that the most direct route to proving one deserves something is to take it."

The internal conflict of interest that Starscream is struggling with at that moment is so easily readable it's actually comical. The evidence is not so much in what he is doing as what he isn't; he stares back at Megatron with such a forced stoic demeanor that's of the variety that he really only displays when he's incredibly wrought with indecision. His eyes bore right back into Megatron's, defiant and amused and disgusted all at once, jaw set firmly.

It was so infuriating, how Megatron always managed to offer Starscream exactly what he wanted and yet end up holding the reigns somehow. Abstractly, this was a cruel reflection of their working relationship even, and precisely the sort of mind games that Starscream was simply unable to resist, despite his higher instincts. One-upping Megatron was like an infuriating puzzle that he could never seem to solve, but his tenacious nature always brought him back to try again anyway.

This is a different battlefield though. On one hand, by following that advice he would be willingly playing right into Megatron's hands and essentially submitting to his will, which was something that made Starscream want to get up and leave right then and there just to be petulant and prove a point. But on the other hand he did very much want what was, basically, being offered to him. They both did, clearly.

So it was with all that in mind that Starscream finally placed both hands on the table and suddenly leaned across the surface of the table (an actually entirely ungraceful movement; the distance was farther than he anticipated) to grasp Megatron's chin in one hand, still staring the other bot down. “I suppose I can't argue with that,” he growls, finally dropping the facade of innocence he'd been cultivating for the last few minutes.

He likes to think that what he's demonstrating to Starscream here is that the only way he can get what he wants is to let Megatron win; often he wishes that's a lesson Starscream would actually get through his head, but at times like this he can admit to himself that, as much as he forces Starscream to work for what he wants, there'd be no fun in any of it if Starscream didn't make him work for it too.

There's a triumphant smirk on his face all the same as Starscream finally gives in, though; "No, I thought not," he rumbles, noting his second's somewhat awkward position over the table with no small amount of amusement. "In a hurry, are we?"

That gives him pause; there's a fine line between amusement and mockery here, and Starscream has never been particularly adept at discerning the difference between the two. He grunts indignantly, removing his hand from Megatron's face to assist in hoisting himself up and over onto the the table.

It's not as graceful of a move as he had hoped it would be (on top of it just being an awkward motion to make, his gangly limbs are a little bit more difficult to maneuver thanks to the Engex in his systems), but a moment later he's seated on the edge of the table in front of Megatron, one leg neatly crossed over the other at the knee and both hands planted at either side of himself on the table. He lifts the foot on his propped up leg a bit more and gives Megatron's chest an insolent tap whilst staring him down carefully, before shifting to crane his neck forward until they were practically bumping foreheads.

"Keep talking like that and I'll feel the need to do something truly nasty. Like leaving you to your own devices just when we're arriving at the best part... right when I've got you at the peak of things I'll just pardon myself and leave."

All bark and no bite, of course. At least the trash talking made him feel a little more in control of the situation.

Megatron holds his gaze even as Starscream taps his ridiculous foot against his chest, his only immediate reaction to the impudent gesture a low growl.

"Really?" he replies, skeptical. "And then what would you do with yourself?"

"Do you really think it would be very difficult for me to find someone else on this ship to finish the job with?" Starscream rumbles without budging an inch. "Honestly, you should count yourself lucky to have me, I could easily take my business elsewhere..." he was getting desperate to goad Megatron into reciprocating something , hiding his growing impatience under nasty words.

He isn't hiding it very well, and Megatron is pretty tempted to keep this up just to watch him get more impatient – but entertaining though the prospect might be, he doesn't actually want Starscream to storm out on him.

He sits up, only slightly, and wraps one massive robot yaoi hand around the leg that's still pointing at his chest with a gentle tug that's not enough to actually make him move, but threatens to haul Starscream undignifiedly into his lap if he pulls much harder.

"I would really prefer you did not," he murmurs.

Unsurprisingly, that wins Megatron one insufferably smug, triumphant smirk, followed up with a dark chuckle. Starscream scoots forward until his position on the table can only be described as "precarious". He carefully moves his free leg from under the other, stretches, and hooks one absurd foot around Megatron's side and into his back, trying to coax him closer.

"Lucky for you, I'm willing to give you a trial period during which you can try and convince me to change my mind," he murmurs back before planting a rather vicious kiss right on Megatron's weirdly off-putting robot lips.

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When things are going well, Starscream doesn't take anything seriously ever.

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