Drift looked at the medbay door before him and sighed. He was about to let the doors slide in front of him, but he hesitated. He knew he would get a supreme aft-chewing from Ratchet for screwing around and getting hurt-again-but he wasn't sure if he was ready for the proverbial beating he'd receive. He could already hear Ratchet now : "Primus, Drift, come on! You aren't a complete idiot, why the hell did you think you'd be able to ride Rodimus' alt mode down the hallways while juggling your swords? Did you even stop to think about the repercussions-" before Drift could even finish the imaginary tirade, the med bay doors hissed open. Ratchet almost walked into Drift, as he was holding a datapad.
"Primus, kid, what the slag..?" Ratchet gave him a slow glance from pede to finial, assessing the damage he'd probably spend the next several hours fixing. "How did you even get here in one piece, Drift? Drift felt his cheeks flush full of energon, and his gaze fell to the floor. "Ratchet..I'm so sorry..Rodimus and I…" he wasn't allowed to finish, as Ratchet dragged him into the room at a surprising speed. Drift sometimes forgot that Ratchet knew how to hustle when it counted, even when the emergency was something as stupid as a rogue juggling accident.
"Ratchet, I'm so sorry, Rodimus and I were being idiots, Magnus will probably give you the whole story later, but I know it was stupid, and I'm sorry I'm wasting your time-" he was cut off again as Ratchet tossed a roll of bandages his way. "Go ahead and get the big scuffs on your finials, I'm not worried about those. I will probably have to do some minor welding in a few spots on your thighs and leg struts, though, so go ahead and sit tight while I get the welder fired up."
Drift sat in mild shock. "How is he so calm about this? I can't believe he's not tearing me a new aft port for being such an idiot!"
The two sat in silence for a short time as Drift patched up his sore stood quietly in front of the welder as it warmed up, quietly sighing. He glanced at his hand briefly, then back at Drift as he seemed lost in trying to wrap one of the bandages around his left final.
Ratchet was in front of Drift before he had a chance to notice him there, and he grabbed Drift's hands to help him finish bandaging himself. He cupped his hands lightly and guided his hands around the lightly scraped appendage with ease, and within nanoseconds it was wrapped properly. (Drift didn't work in the medbay for a very good reason- he wasn't terribly adept at fixing wounds, just making them, after all.) Drift looked at Ratchet with admiration. He was so enamored with the crotchety old bot for many reasons, but this was one of them; he was damn good at what he did. "Thanks, knows I'm terrible at this, heh-" he was cut off again as Ratchet delivered a swift thump to his forehead. "...C'mon, Drift. No ridiculous pet names."
Drift blushed at the thought. He hoped Ratchet hadn't noticed. Ratchet tried to avoid looking at the blushing younger bot by looking at one of his hands, which was still resting on one of his injured finials.
"You know, I don't know how you- any of you- put all this faith in me. My hands...they're not even my hands...and they don't work as well as they should. As well as I want them to." Ratchet moved his gaze downwards to the floor, lost in thought for a moment. Drift took the opportunity and snatched both of Ratchet's hands and took them into his own. "Ratchet, don't say things like that! Primus gave you this gift for a reason! Who cares if they aren't 'your' hands? You do what you're best at with them, even if it's helping idiots like me with juggling wounds!"
Ratchet was taken aback with the younger bot's enthusiasm and faith in him. He couldn't help but feel a blush creep into his cheeks. "So what do you say, doc, ready to finish patching me up?" Drift asked with a small smile. Ratchet smiled and squeezed Drift's hands back.
"Wait, a juggling accident? Primus, where does Rodimus even find you people?!"