"How about here?"
"Too hot."
"Well, here?"
"Ick, too humid."
Diana huffed, leaning forwards to bang her forehead on the table that she had spread a map of the United States out on. She had been pointing to different locations, then looking to Knock Out for an opinion. So far it was going, slow. "Then you pick somewhere."
The red mech was sitting next to her, his knees bent and falling out to the side while the bottoms of his feet were pressed together. "That's no fun." He was picking at the seams of his plating, picking out any bits of dust and what not that had gathered there, though Diana claimed it impossible with the amount of preening he did.
"Well we can't stay here forever Knocks." Diana sat up, propping her elbow on the table and looking to Knock Out, her chin resting in her hand.
"I know that." He murmured in response, looking down to meet her gaze.
"It's clear you're not going back to the Decepticons."
"Duh."
"But you won't join the Autobots."
Knock Out gave a low sound from the back of his throat, averting his gaze.
"So, pick a place to move to already." The slender human female sighed again, rising from her seat and pacing about the room, taking the time to stretch her legs. "Ratchet says you're fit as a fiddle."
The mech gave her an odd look, not understanding the phrase.
"Healthy, fixed up, right as rain, good to go." Diana smirked, nudging the toe of her work boot against one of his legs as she paced around him.
He gave a deep sigh, giving the map an almost spiteful gaze before returning to watching Diana stroll around the room. "What do you want?"
The question made Diana blink, slowly turning on her heel to glance to him. They hadn't exactly talked about what their game plan would be once Knock Out was back to normal, every time the idea was brought up the crimson medic would change the topic, do his best to avoid the conversation. She'd only managed to get him to sit and actually discuss it by threatening to hide the buffer and keep her hands off of him if he didn't. "I, I don't..." she glanced to the floor, her features crinkling into a frown.
There was a gentle crackling behind her, a pair of now familiar, yet not exactly human, arms encircling her. "Di, what do you want?"
Diana sighed, turning about in the embrace of Knock Out's holoform and taking hold of the collar of the black button down shirt he had assigned to his so called, civilian, form; a black dress shirt with a simple pair of blue jeans and black running shoes. "I just want us to be happy, I want everyone to be happy."
"Who says we won't be?" He cracked a grin, lightly touching his forehead to hers.
"Knocks." Diana sighed again, closing her eyes as his forehead met hers. "Your species is at war, we can't just turn our backs on that." She felt his brow furrow in response. "It's going to follow you no matter where we go."
There was a moment of silence between the two, Diana waiting for a reply, Knock Out unsure of what to say.
He'd never dreamed his life would have taken a turn like this, leaving him on an alien world, trying to be neutral in the war, with a human as his mate. He could almost head Breakdown laughing at him.
"Fine." There was another flurry of static, his holoform dissipating so fast that Diana lost her balance and nearly toppled over, having been leaning on him.
"Fine?" She twisted to watch him as he stood, tilting his head from side to side to "crack" the neck of his true body before turning to walk out of the room. "Knocks, wait, what are you?" She jogged after him, having to keep jogging to keep pace with him.
The mech only slowed his pace a tad, his spark humming in protest of leaving her behind, the gentle ache of what it seemed to see as treating his mate badly rising in his chest. He just sighed, trying to squash the over protectiveness of himself as he strode into the command center of the Autobot base, drawing the eyes of all humans and Autobots alike to himself. "Ceremonitize me."
The Autobots blinked, looking between themselves and then to Diana, who only shook her head to signal that she was just as lost as them.
"Beg your pardon?" Optimus spoke, taking a few steps towards Knock Out.
"I want to be an Autobot, so do what ever you guys do. Put glitter on me, do a ribbon dance, party with the humans." Knock Out gave a shrug, trailing off with the action.
There was a silence in the room, Ratchet being the one to break the quiet. "You want to WHAT?"
"Got rust in your ears? I want to join you." Knock Out replied, setting a hand on his hip.
Ratchet could only sputter, darting to Optimus' side. "Optimus, I know we took Knock Out in, and agreed to stop viewing him as our enemy, but to take him as one of our own, to trust him with our backs!"
Optimus raised a hand, asking for the Autobot Medic's silence. "Explain your reasoning Knock Out." The Prime gave a quick glance to Diana, who had been staring at Knock Out with a bemused expression.
Knock Out simply extended a hand, hovering it over Diana to point down at her.
Diana blinked as he indicated her as his reason. "But you said -"
"I know what I said." Knock Out cut he off, looking down to her. "And you're right, even if you and I were to run away, the war would grind on. And I..." he glanced to Optimus, meeting and holding the Prime's steady gaze. "I could not live with myself if I ran."
Optimus kept his gaze on Knock Out's for a moment, consideration flickering in the Prime's eyes. "Very well, prove yourself to us then." There was a great inhale from those in the room, as if everyone were about to speak at once, but Optimus spoke again, keeping anyone else from speaking and cementing his decision by moving on and gesturing to one of the computers in the room. "These are co-ordinates for four relics, relics from Iacon. We need to secure them before Megatron does."
Knock Out stepped forwards, frowning a tad as he studied the screen, ignoring the mild chatter occurring between the Autobot's and their human friends. "More relics, but not weapons. Keys?" His eyes darted from side to side, quickly reading what data there was on the Omega Keys. He grew still as realization dawned on him, the importance of the keys sinking in. "How can I help?"
*flops around on the floor* I'm still alive, just uber busy, have a blurb. :3