Language Most Foul

Starscream was in a foul mood. Most would claim that that was normal for the Air Commander, and for the most part they would be right. But this went beyond the pretense he put on for the troops. He had snapped at Thundercracker and Skywarp in the privacy of the trine's quarters. He had never yelled at them like that before. Sure, he was an aft to everyone else, but never to his mates. When he was a slagger to them in public it was always an act to keep others from suspecting the true extent of their bond. Thunder and Sky always knew that it was fake. But for him to snap at them in private... Yeah, he was pissed. The worst part, however was that he had no idea why.

It had been building some time. It was almost like an itch in his processor, one that he couldn't get rid of. It was beyond irritating and kept insisting that something was very wrong. He turned the past few orns over in his mind, trying to find the cause. Today's trigger had been Skywarp shortening his name to "Screamer". In truth, he didn't mind the nickname. In Seeker Cant his nickname meant "one who sings proudly". Wait a klik... Seeker Cant. That was the problem. His name sounded wrong coming from his mate's lips in English. It was warped, distorted and ugly.

Looking back, the young Commander could see that he had grown frustrated with the excessive use of the hideous, primitive language. He couldn't understand how human
Culture had pervaded their lives so completely that they had forsaken their own beautiful languages in favor of that of the fleshbags'. The slagging thing had even twisted his own voice. His vocals weren't meant to produce such short, distorted sounds. Well, he wouldn't stand for it. He would fix this if it killed him.

-

Megatron frowned. Something wasn't right. They were currently half way through a tactical meeting, discussing plans for their next raid. Normally, his treacherous Second would have pointed out dozens of perceived flaws, if for no other reason than to irritate the warlord. This silence was disconcerting, as was the superior grin the Seeker wore. That smile generally meant that Starscream was planning something chaotic. Optics shifting to Soundwave, Megatron silently asked if the telepath had picked up on any treacherous vibes from Starscream. Much to Soundwave's annoyance, He couldn't get past the SIC's mental shields. He had never been able to, which was why the SIC's plots always came as a surprise. Catching his leader's look, the sapphire mech shook his head slightly.

Trying to nip whatever his least loyal soldier was planning in the bud, the tyrant said,

"Well, Starscream, do you have any comments? You're usually so full of them." Most mechs in the assembly hall braced their audios against the rant they were sure was coming. They were caught off guard when, instead of the usual high pitched shriek, an almost musical sound flowed from Starscream's vocalizer. It caught them so by surprise that it took most of the mechs a moment to realize that they hadn't understood a word that Starscream had said. Clearly he was speaking another language; one that they should have had no problems translating. Unfortunately it had been a long time since any of the Decepticons had heard it spoken (or saw it in written form).

Megatron blinked at his smug second.

"Say that again." It wasn't a request. Rolling his optics in exasperation, Starscream repeated himself.

"I said, "No, I have no comment. You will disregard anything I say, so I will not waste my valuable time pointing out errors, even if the ground formation is spread so far apart a five stellar cycle old squishy could navigate through it with ease."" He still refused to speak in English, making his comrades scramble to translate the Cybertronian words. Soundwave, however, caught everyone by surprise when he answered Starscream's comment using Cybertronian as well. apparently the Seeker's voice wasn't the only one that had been altered by the flesh creatures' language; the signature monotone of the TIC smoothed into a soothing bass.

"Starscream: explain flaw." The Air Commander had to stop his jaw from falling open. Soundwave, of all mechs, was taking him seriously.

The rest of the army sat in stunned silence, listening as two of their top officers carried out a civil debate in what they now recognized as their, for lack of a better term, mother tongue. They had a hard time following what was being said. Only part of this was because of how unfamiliar they were with their language. The other part was that they were too busy fantasizing about those gorgeous voices. Even Megatron was paying more attention to Starscream's voice than the actual conversation. It was much more pleasing to listen to now. His voice was a light tenor with an almost husky undertone. Many a mech could recall fantasizing about that voice crying out in pleasure before the Earth language had warped it. Bright optics focused on both mechs, and audios strained to record the conversation, which seemed to be winding down.

Nestled in the back of the room two Seekers watched their mate, who was oblivious to the looks of lust he and Soundwave were receiving. They seethed silently, already planning what would happen to the first mech foolish enough to make a move on their mate.