Considering Skyfire knew Starscream as a scientist and not as the soldier he said he'd become, that final statement was, perhaps, the most foreign he'd heard thus far. How could his bond-mate not know other inhabitants of this planet? Why was he not actively seeking them out, learning all about them that he could, perhaps even finding ways to help better their lives? It was... baffling, yet the answer was painfully obvious.
Starscream was no longer a scientist.
Still, even if he'd said as much himself, Skyfire refused to believe that. Intentions may change. Behaviors and beliefs, even. A Spark, however, remained the same. And he knew with everything he had within him that Starscream's Spark was dedicated to the pursuit of science.
It was then that he made the first of many difficult, personal decisions that he would come to make after arriving in this strange place. He would help his bond-mate find that part of his Spark that he seemed to have forgotten existed. He would remind him of the joys that could be found in science, in learning all there was to learn about an alien species. He would help Starscream return to the scientist he was meant to be and not the soldier he'd become. It would take some work, and patience, and perhaps no small amount of frustration at times, but he would succeed in this. Failure was simply not an option.
For now, however, Skyfire was simply content to be with him. Obviously it had been a great deal of time for Starscream and he was fine with allowing him to re-familiarize himself with the Bond they shared. It was the least he could do, having inadvertantly abandoned him when he should have listened to reason and stayed well above those winds.
So rather than insist Starscream at least attempt to befriend the clearly terrified human behind the desk, Skyfire instead placed his cup of water down on the table beside the chair upon which he'd been sitting and returned his full attention to the other man. His eyes shone with feelings he wasn't certain he quite had the words to express, his motions gentle as he ran one hand lovingly down his bond-mate's cheek. And with a simply whispered, "It doesn't matter, love. For now, none of it matters," Skyfire pressed his slowly-warming lips tenderly against Starscream's.