Wish I could've made this longer....
Thx to DreadfullBeautifulluv22 for making me realize the awesome that is this pairing XD
..ohhowihatethelinetool..
Clank never gets jealous.
It just isn't part of his personality - he's a firm believer in the idea that if he waits for long enough, the things he wants will eventually happen. So far, that idea has never failed him. He was never jealous of Ratchet's fame, and eventually, he became famous in his own right. He is not, and never will be, jealous of Ratchet's appearance, weapons prowess, engineering skills, strength. Certainly not for his IQ, although that's admittedly for a different reason.
But now, for the first time in his admittedly short life, Clank is jealous. He freely admits to himself that it is a silly, silly thing that he's jealous over. Because, you see, he's jealous of Sasha.
After the whole Nefarious fiasco, Ratchet began to spend more time with Sasha. Clank hates it - hates seeing the two of them together. It reminds him of his cowardice, his inability to say those three little words that could so very easily change everything.
That was when that ugly green-eyed monster first began to rear its head.
Clank ignores it as much as he can. Because, after all, good things come to he who waits.
Usually.
He has been waiting for months, now. For all that time, he's pretended that nothing is wrong. He's very good at it - he is an actor, after all. He's quite certain that Ratchet doesn't suspect a thing. He will freely admit to himself that the lombax isn't exactly... the brightest LED in a circuit. Sometimes, though, his perfect mask slips. A touch that lasts several seconds too long, words delivered in the wrong tone, small unneeded gifts. It's wearing Clank down, the constant charade. One day - soon - he's going to snap from the pressure and then Ratchet won't have a partner, nevermind whatever else Clank is to the lombax.
But he waits.
Waits for the right moment, he tells himself, even though logically he knows there won't be a 'right moment'.
Sometimes, he overhears Ratchet or Sasha or both considering going one step further with their relationship, and he knows - knows with absolute certainty - that if he waits much longer it will be too late. Too late to say the one thing that he has never gathered up the courage to say.
Because, you see, Clank is in love.
Ratchet is his first - and only - love. There have been others, others he has used to try to fill the ache in his soul (but could he even really have a soul?) that only Ratchet can fill. Ratchet is his rescuer, his partner, his best friend - his parent, in a way. No one ever has been, nor ever will be, as close to Clank's heart as Ratchet is.
Perhaps it isn't love - he's young, even for a robot, and how can he really know what love is? Perhaps this feeling, this - this spark he can feel when he's near Ratchet is just close friendship. Or brotherhood. He wishes he could know for sure, but there's no one he can ask, no one he's close enough to. Except, of course, for Ratchet, and he has a feeling that it would be unwise to ask him. He's aware enough to know that.
But as much as he loves (or thinks he loves?) Ratchet - the lombax doesn't return it. Brotherly love, perhaps. But that's it. Ratchet is not interested in him - or any robot. He is the textbook definition of 'straight'. Clank is quite sure of that. All the evidence points to that conclusion. Especially... Sasha.
Oh, how Clank hates her.
If there was one thing he and his short-lived clone had in common besides frame, it was their furious hatred towards that Cazar. It isn't her personality, her abilities, her connections, or through any real fault of her own. Under different circumstances, they could have made very good friends. It's the simple fact that Ratchet's in love with her. The simple fact that they're considering settling down. Staying together.
Getting married.
And that, more than anything, makes the jealousy and hate simmer deep, deep down.