Seismic had been living with Starscream in the Solar Flare for over a month now, and the Seeker was forced to consider that the pair's living arrangement may yet become permanent.

The young Grounder had yet to find somewhere else to stay (though he strongly suspected she wasn't putting much effort into the task) and she was draining his resources much faster than he would have alone, but the worst part of the whole situation was that he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed about it.

Really, he tried to convince himself, I do have more than enough Energon and quite a bit of space. That's why I'm not bothered.

However true that was, he knew, deep down, that that wasn't the actual reason he was okay with her staying.

The truth was, he was beginning to fear that he actually liked this teenage femme.

Maybe it was her personality, maybe he was mellowing with age, or maybe it was because he saw something in her that reminded him of himself- but he somehow wasn't sure what he would do if she left him alone again.

Starscream scowled to himself as he ingested the morning's cube of Energon in what had become the pair's traditional 'dining' room. Seismic wasn't awake yet, which he thought was rather strange, considering that the femme was nearly always at full energy. But it was past sunrise and the femme had yet to make an appearance. Maybe he should check on her.

On the way to the femme's berthroom, which was next door to his own, Starscream found himself worriedly imagining worst case scenarios that involved the femme racked with fever or purging while she moaned softly in discomfort on her berth. He shook himself. She's probably fine, just sleeping in.

He smashed his servo into the activation pad outside her room, and to his irritation, it didn't open.

Starscream vented. The stupid teen had locked the door, of course. He typed in the bypass code with a fervor that surprised even him, and without further ado, stormed through the open doors, expecting the worse.

Instead, he was greeted with the yawns of a drowsy teenager.

"Morning, Screamer." Seismic yawned loudly, stretching her arms and servos lazily as she climbed out of her berth. She stopped once she spotted his expression. "What's wrong?"

Starscream cleared his throat and did his best to fix his faceplates of any concern. "Nothing. I was just wondering why you were not up yet."

Seismic yawned again and gave him a smirk worthy of himself. "Would it kill you to admit that you cared?" Starscream began spluttering, and she continued, "But don't worry, I'm feeling perfectly fine. Better than normal, even."

Starscream tried to ignore her and instead raised an eyebrow. "Better than normal? What is that supposed to mean?"

Seismic stretched her backstrut and grunted in satisfaction when she was rewarded with a nice crack. "Nothing much, really. My systems just feel all nice and shiny. Like they've been upgraded." She hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe they have?"

Starscream surprised himself yet again with a genuine smile. "Let's find out."

~~~

Seismic had wanted to do things the hard way instead of the easy way. Meaning, she preferred to try literally everything she could think of rather then look at her upgrade report. So Starscream sat, bored, for several hours.

"Haven't you grown tired of this?" Starscream called, aft sore from all of the sitting it had been doing.

"Nope!" Seismic exclaimed cheerfully. "I think I'm onto something!"

"Yes, my nerves!" Starscream shouted back, rolling his optics as he began to grumble again.

Suddenly, he was slammed backwards by something invisible to him. Tumbling several times, he managed to land on his knees and one servo, denta gritted fiercely as he prepared to face whoever had dared to attack him.

But to his shock, and apparently her own, the only living thing within eyesight aside from himself was Seismic, arms held out in front of her, optics wide.

"What in the Pit was that?!" Starscream exclaimed. Seismic lowered her arms, studying them in awe.

"I have audiokinesis." She whispered reverently, taking in every detail of her small servos. "I have audiokinesis."

"You're a kinetic?" Starscream gasped. "Those are said to be incredibly rare..."

"They aren't incredibly rare." Seismic replied, apparently snapped out of her awe. "I knew two pyrokinetic twins at the Academy. They're still rare, don't get me wrong, but not incredibly so."

"This is still an incredible gift you possess." Starscream mused, very much impressed. "Audiokinesis, you said? Yes, I think that is part of it, but you seem to be capable of producing sonic blasts as well."

"So cool." Seismic stage-whispered.

"Yes, as you put it." Starscream agreed. "It may be wise to learn how to control such a power."

Seismic looked down at her servos again, optics glowing. "Sooooo cooool."

"Then again, I'm not quite sure how one could even train in controlling their power without an example." Starscream was thinking out loud.

"I am so ready for this." Seismic said enthusiastically. She punched her fist out and threw a burst of concussive energy out. It rang for several seconds before dissipating.

"If you are to train with me," Starscream said thoughtfully, hopefully disguising his true hope of having the energetic femme live with him permanently. "Then you should continue to live with myself in the Solar Flare."

Seismic immediately saluted him. "Aye aye, sensai!"

Well. He'd made it permanent. Oops.

Starscream snorted. "Seismic, you do also realize that..." he lowered his helm to look down and his servos, which were held at his waist nervously. "That would make you my charge?"

Seismic thought for a few moments of what the full ramifications of this decision would be before she made her choice. "Sure, Dad." She smirked mischievously.

Starscream made a strangled noise that sounded something like a dying Scraplet, and Seismic burst out laughing. Soon, the pair were rolling around the floor, cackling like maniacs.

When they'd finally calmed down, Starscream sat up and smirked at his new charge. "I suppose that would also make you my sparkling."

Seismic, unlike him, was unfazed and only smiled as if to bask in the statement. "That's cool with me."

Starscream gave a genuine smile. "Good."

And, against his will, she'd managed to worm her way into his spark. There was a reason he had avoided sparklings and younglings after the disappearances and death of them.

The SIC sighed, rubbing his helm as he watched his charge mess with her sound blasts. Then he allowed himself a small smile. If this was family, maybe it was worth it.

Okay, I wrote this in not that much time, and I don't know what you think of this chapter compared to the last one. I personally liked last chapter better, but I had a few points to vaguely cover in this one and it's a little filler-y, and I should have the next chapter posted pretty soon too because it's mostly written already (I think).

Please comment your opinions! I want to know if there's something you think I could make better! But constructive criticism, please! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of CHOT!

Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow!

SalixEnder03