Trusting
"And don't let me catch you doing anything that slaggin' insane again!"
"But Ratchet…"
"Out!"
Wheeljack chuckled as he listened to Ratchet 'removing' the twins from the repair bay. There had been a small incident involving the brothers, a barrel of experimental fuel and Soundwave's cassettes during the last battle. The said incident resulted in a rather potent explosion that had left Sideswipe in a state best described as 'char grilled' and Sunstreaker buried under several tonnes of storage tanks. Ratchet nearly had kittens when the pair was delivered to his field repair station.
"You know," the inventor commented, "I think those two might actually like you Ratchet."
The red and white fixed Wheeljack with a dark glare as he stalked back to where his friend was standing. "And how, may I ask, did you arrive at that stunning leap of logic?" he questioned archly. "Seeing as they are repeatedly dragged to my less than tender care after every battle and see fit to terrorise my waking hours on an almost daily basis?"
"Well," Wheeljack grabbed a nearby stool and sat down, "look at how you treat 'em. You've called them every foul word you've ever come across in no less that eight Cybertronian dialects as well as English, but they've never done anything to you. Heck, if anyone else tried it they'd wake up welded to their recharge berth."
"They don't mind being sworn at, so what?" Ratchet shrugged.
"Ah, but what about all the times you've hit one or both of them upside the head?" Wheeljack countered. "Sunstreaker would dismember anyone who scratches his paint, much less hits him."
That made Ratchet think for a moment. "OK then, why do you think they like me?" he challenged.
"You're a straight up, no beating around the bush around kind of mech." Wheeljack replied. "You've got attitude and you don't care who you're talking to when ya tell 'em to stick it in neutral. The twins respect that, and I think it's why theytrusted you to do their repairs back in Iacon in the first place."
"Huh?" The medic's expression was quizzical.
"They trust you." Wheeljack repeated. "They trust you and that's why they like you. Look," Wheeljack shifted slightly, "you call things as you see them, you act like yourself around anyone and they know you'll take care of them. You're honest, and they trust you."
Ratchet mulled that over for a little while. "I guess they do." He mused, then smiled slightly. "They gave all the other medics hell back in Iacon. Remember what they did to Jumpstart?"
"Do I ever!" Wheeljack laughed. "He deserved it though."
"That he did." Ratchet grinned and clapped his hand down on Wheeljack's shoulder. "C'mon, let's get a drink." He suggested.