The cold had come down like a decree from Primus himself. A brutal, metal‑biting freeze swept across the battlefield, turning the ground to glass and the air to something that stung even through armor. The Autobots could handle it. Most grounders could. But the Seekers? Their wings stiffened, their joints locked, their cooling systems went haywire. Even the proudest of them—Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker—were forced to land and huddle near heat sources like grounded birds. A brutal, metal‑biting freeze swept across the battlefield, turning the ground to glass and the air to something that stung even through armor. The Autobots could handle it. Most grounders could. But the Seekers? Their wings stiffened, their joints locked, their cooling systems went haywire. Even the proudest of them—Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker—were forced to land and huddle near heat sources like grounded birds. So a truce was called. A temporary, uneasy, frost‑covered ceasefire. Autobots and Decepticons camped in the same abandoned human mining facility, each faction occupying opposite sides of the cavernous structure. Heat lamps hummed. Energon rations were shared with stiff, awkward courtesy. No one liked it, but no one wanted to be responsible for a Seeker freezing solid. And in the middle of all that tension, all that forced civility, two mechs were quietly losing their minds. Because Optimus Prime and Knockout had been secretly courting for months. And Primus, it was getting harder to pretend they despised each other. Knockout was the first to slip away. He moved with a medic’s confidence and a thief’s grace, pretending to check on the Seekers’ thermal regulators before ducking into a side tunnel. His paint gleamed even in the dim light—he’d polished it earlier, of course. He always polished before seeing Optimus. Optimus followed a few minutes later, offering Ratchet a calm explanation about inspecting structural integrity. Ratchet didn’t question it; he was too busy arguing with Wheeljack about whether Seekers needed specialized coolant. The tunnel was narrow, quiet, and warmed by a geothermal vent. Their spot. (you represent as Knockout)