It was late evening when Diana finally finished buffing Knock Out, giving him the works, as she called it. She had buffed him in both his alternate form and his normal mode, ensuring there was no spot left untouched. Judging by the way the Aston Martin was preening himself, standing in the center of the base's main room, she'd done a hell of a job.
"Excellent, truly exquisite." Knock Out hummed, twisting about to try to peer at his backside before carefully shifting back into his alternate mode and giving a rev of his engine.
Diana only rolled her eyes. "Of course, I'm great at what I do, you really need to stop doubting my talents tin-head." She turned to pack up her things, glancing about for a place to set them.
Ratchet and Arcee were the only other bots in the room, the three young humans seated in the loft on their couch, watching a movie of some sort. Diana decided to deposit her gear upstairs, given she already felt like she was invading the Autobot Base due to Ratchet's refusal to formally discharge Knock Out from his care.
"What're you guys watching?" Diana asked as she arrived upstairs, making her way behind the three teens and tucking her toolkit away in a corner of the area.
"Monster mash!" Miko grinned, flashing the older woman a "rock on" sign with her right hand.
Diana just smiled, shaking her head and making her way back to the stairs, trying to hide her ever present weariness.
The next few events happened in a blur. Diana, not noticing that the lacing on one of her work boots had come undone, stepped on the lace, losing her footing and tumbling forwards with a startled sound that drew all eyes to her. Arcee lurched forwards, hoping to cross the room in time to catch Diana, but freezing as there was an audible crackle, a red haired human flickering into existence on the staircase to catch Diana.
There was a silence among the room, only a soft laugh of embarrassment from Diana breaking the quiet. "Well, nice catch Knocks."
Knock Out only grinned at her, gathering her in his arms. "Geez, learn to walk squishy."
"Wait wait wait, you have a holoform?!" Ratchet blurted, stepping to the bottom of the stairs as Knock Out made his way down, setting Diana back on her feet.
"Yeah, what of it?" Knock Out sighed in reply.
"What's a holoform?" Raf asked, the three younger humans having clambered down the staircase as well, all of them peering at Knock Out's holoform.
"It is a projection, made mostly from energon, it's hard to explain in a way you'd understand." Arcee said, setting a hand on her hip. "It makes certain tasks easier, being able to create a smaller version of ourselves, but most bots lost the ability or desire when the war began."
"Wicked." Miko grinned, poking at Knock Out, who scowled down at her. "You feel so real dude!"
The Decepticon just rolled his eyes, trying to maneuver himself so that Diana was between him and the teenagers. "For all intensive purposes it is real."
"Why would you take a human form?" Ratchet asked, leaning forwards a tad, still scrutinizing the other mech with his gaze.
Knock Out stared up at the Autobot medic. "Really? You're serious?" He looked to Diana, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
Diana coughed slightly, blushing a moment. "Alright, is this really such a big deal?"
Ratchet frowned, seeming to take a moment to consider something. "Knock Out, you and Diana, have you two had interc-"
"Whoa whoa whoa, that's enough!" Diana shrieked, flailing her arms about. "I am not about to discuss my sex life in front of everyone!"
"So there is a sex life?" Miko grinned, Jack and Raf doing a poor job of hiding their amusement as Knock Out gave a devilish grin.
"No! I mean, well, yes! But, that's, agh!" Diana continued to flail, bringing her hands to her face to hide her expression.
"Knock Out..." Ratchet began. "You are aware that any, bodily fluids, the holoform may produce will be energon based." His tone was flat, a disproving scowl appearing on the older mech's features.
Something seemed to click for Arcee as well, the femme blinking and looking to Knock Out. "Energon's toxic to humans."
Knock Out looked between the pair, his features crinkling as he put two and two together. "Toxic..." His eyes widening, the holoform crackling and fading, his true body unfolding from his alternate mode at a speed that had Ratchet frowning. "How could I be so stupid?"
"What?" Diana only blinked, her expression just as lost as the other humans in the room.
"Di, all the times you were sick after we, you know..." He trailed off, giving a sidelong glance to the young trio. "It was me, poisoning you, from the inside." He looked back to Diana, his expression one of blatant shame.
Diana frowned, looking to the floor with pursed lips. "That explains a lot I guess."
"How often do you two engage in-" Ratchet began, only to be interrupted by Knock Out turning on him.
"It's none of your business!" The red mech exclaimed, jabbing a finger against the Autobot's chest.
Ratchet huffed at the other mech, shoving his hand away. "I was merely curious, prolonged exposure to smaller doses of energon may explain Diana's seeming immunity to it's toxic effects."
Knock Out just grumbled, folding his arms over his chest and looking away.
"And it was idiotic of you to-"
"All right! That's enough for one night!" Knock Out interrupted the older mech once again, scooping up a now bemused Diana and turning to the base's exit.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Arcee called after them, trying to ignore the rising snickers of Raf, Jack and Miko.
"Out. Walk. Drive. Bye." Knock Out replied, slowing only to transform, securing Diana in his passenger seat as he accelerated out of the base.
Diana wasn't sure how to react to the discovery, she was mostly amused, but a little surprised as well. But hey, things like this were bound to happen when you loved an alien robot, right?
She sighed, sitting up, having seated herself on Knock Out's hood once he stopped driving. "You know I'm not mad at you." She glanced towards his windshield, silence answering her. "You don't need to sulk."
"I'm not sulking." He retorted, his voice negating the statement with it's pouting tone.
"Knocks-"
"Diana, I could have killed you. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?"
"You could have killed me lots of times." Diana smirked, sliding off of him and turning to face him. "You're like four times my height, you could have accidentally stepped on me numerous times."
He sputtered at her, transforming and ending in a kneeling position so his face was level with her. "I would never do something that..." He trailed off, features crinkling as he tried to find a suitable word.
"My point exactly. You'd never intentionally hurt me, and it's not like you were poisoning me on purpose."
Knock Out flinched at her use of the word poisoning.
"Knocks, it's okay. Mistakes happen, and will probably keep happening given the nature of our relationship." She stepped forwards, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against his cheek. "And I'm perfectly fine with that. It's worth it to be with you."
After a moments silence he finally sighed, gently nuzzling her with his face. "You're crazy, you know that fleshbag?"
"People do crazy things when they're in love, you'll learn that soon enough motor-mouth."
Murr :3 Bit of an explanation for Diana's earlier illness'. *sneaks off and crawls into bed*
And I just want to say a BIG thank you to anyone who's followed me about on here, and tumblr. :)