Ratchet and Clank one-shot
Set: several months after Good VS Evil
Warnings: none but fluffiness
Summary: What happens when Alister Azimuth has to look after another Lombax, apart from Ratchet, under his house roof? Many things like breaking up fights and making these Lombaxes make up.
One More Lombax
The weather on Torren IV was wet and miserable. It was rather rare for this to happen on the normally extreme hot planet so it was different for once for some that lived there. The bottom of vallys were beginning to fill up with rain water, and creating small streams running down and through the villages nearby. The wind was slowly getting colder and stronger as evening time came, forcing people to stay in their homes.
Luckly for an unusual pair in an old robotic-looking house on the outside, it was lovely and warm inside for them. The heating was on at the right temperature so no one needed to wrap up in thick clothes or blankets - they didn't even need to wear a jacket.
A certain dark-golden Lombax was sitting on the couch, watching holo-television, in the living room; wanting time to pass quickly. He didn't really want to be where he was, but he had no where else to go and live. He was even surprised the elder Lombax let him stay after everything that happened. But then again, it was that other Lombax's idea to get him to live here. Ugh, stupid idiot...
Another young Lombax made his way into the room from the kitchen, soda in hand, before collapsing into the couch. A peaceful sigh exited his mouth; letting his finger and thumb open the can of fizzy drink, the pressure escaping making a hiss.
The sound caused ears to twitch but other than that, he carried on watching TV like nothing happened.
The second Lombax took a sip of his soda, looking at the television too. He noticed that it was a gory, horror film that seemed like it was made in the olden ages. "Why'd you haveta watch this stuff...?" He turned his nose up at the horrible scenes; trying not to let the memories from the past year come back.
Red eyes flickered over to the other in slight annoyance of being distracted from what he was doing. "Better than this other crap these days." He glanced back at the TV, crossing his arms too.
A cringe appeared across his lips. "Alright... Sheesh; just asking." He mumbled before taking a loud sip while drinking from the can. He spotted a glare out the corner of his eyes, so an eyebrow was raised. "...Yes...?"
"Do you mind?"
The younger blinked in confusion. "What?" He took another sip.
The first Lombax's ears lowered as his eyes narrowed. "You know what, Ratchet." He said through clenched teeth, trying to calm himself as he knew he wasn't aloud to cause any damage to anything or anyone.
The one called Ratchet glanced down at his drink, just realising what the other was going on about. "Oh, this...?" A smirk was formed as he purposely made another loud gulp after taking in some more drink. "Sorry; distracting you from your film watching, Hunter?"
The other, known as Hunter, glanced in annoyance, his left eye twitching. "You don't say..." He looked to the side and closed his eyes, grumbling. "And wipe that smug look off your disgusting face before I personally take it off myself."
He winced at Hunter's tone of voice and statement. A swallow. "Y-You know you're not allowed to hurt me or anyone else... I know for a fact that the General would just call the Galactic Rangers to lock you up in Zordoom again."
The dark one chuckled in amusement. "I know. But..." He pushed himself to the side and tackled Ratchet off the couch, pinning him down on the floor, holding him by the shoulders tightly. "That doesn't stop this." His famous grin cracked along his face.
The can of soda came flying out of Ratchet's hand and crashed to the floor a few feet away from them, spilling the fizzy substance over the smooth, wooden floor. He gasped while speaking, trying to steady his fast-beating heart from the panic of what the other could do to him. "H-H-Hunter?! Stop-!" A hand was placed over his mouth which cut him off from speaking.
"Shhh... We don't want Azimuth to hear you."
He fidgeted on the floor, trying to get the other off of him. Even though they were once the same person, Hunter had always been the strongest as well as fastest out of them. He kept twisting his arms before he finally freed them. His hands gripped onto the Lombax's arms as he rolled them both over so he ended up on top. His ears laid flat against his head. "Alister's not even home! Besides... Now it's my go!"
"Pfff! I don't think so!" He did the exact same thing that Ratchet did a few moments ago, and got back on top of the younger, smirking down at him with half-closed eyes. "Let's see if this works." He ran his fingers lightly down Ratchet's sides, knowing that he couldn't do anything else and wasn't allowed to hurt him, as he began to tickle him.
The golden Lombax shrieked in surprise before breaking down into laughter. "N-No! No, p-please! AHHAHAHA! H-H-Hunter! S-Stop it! HAAHAHHA!"
Another grin was made at the other's struggling. "I'm sorry. You're not clear enough - finding it difficult to understand you right now." He carried on with what he was doing, gliding his fingers up and down Ratchet's sides. They slowly moved to the other's chest and stomach, quickly locating his weak spots.
Emerald eyes tried to glare up at the other but couldn't due to the laughing. "I-I s-s-said- AHHAHAHAHAH! -s-stop i-it!" Tears were felt coming forth because of giggling too much as his feet stomped on the floor, wanting Hunter to stop the tickling.
Hunter snickered as he added more pressure, by digging his fingers on Ratchet a little. "Hmm... I dunno 'bout that."
"T-That's i-i-it!" He kneed the other in the gut, sending him crashing to the floor not too far away from him. Ratchet climbed back on top of the Lombax, keeping him down on the ground, and started to tickle Hunter - revenge was sweet. His fingers swept up the other's sides.
He yelped, twisting and turning underneath Ratchet. "R-Ratchet!" He began to laugh at the touches. "S-Stop i-it n-n-now!" He had never been tickled before so it was a new experience - feeling strange vibrations run through his throat - and it was very different to what he imagined it to be. He thought it would hurt but the gentle, graceful, gliding fingers told him otherwise. His cheeks started to feel a little warm from laughing too much.
Ratchet smirked. "Is the poor wittle Hunter helpless for once?" He slowly slipped his fingers under Hunter's shirt, getting better access to the skin as he carried on with the tickling.
The Lombax opened to mouth to yell back in frustration but a loud purr escaped instead; his whole face exploding into a red tone, replacing the majority of his dark-golden fur. Once he got started, he couldn't stop, they kept coming out from deep within his throat.
He stopped what he was doing and stared at Hunter in astonishment, before collapsing into a laughing fit himself. Resting his head on the other's chest as his hand was pressed against his own stomach; the other hand still under the shirt.
"I-It's not f-funny!" He said while still purring away.
Sitting back up straight, a finger wiped away the tears from laughter. "Aww, don't worry. It happens to all of us." He calmed down but still giggled sightly at the one beneath him.
He growled and purred at the same time, before punching Ratchet square in the chest, knocking him back and taking the wind out of him. Hunter quickly got up and grabbed the younger by the ankles firmly - a red face still occurring.
"GAH!" Ratchet tried to claw at the floor but found it rather difficult when gloves were being worn. Alternately, he wrapped his arms around something heavy to stop Hunter from dragging him.
The Lombax bared his canines in anger. He pulled out a secret knife from his pocket and threw it with force at the other. The blade cut through the floor and landed an inch away from the Ratchet's face. "Let. Go." His voice dropped to a dark tone.
His head turned to the side so he could at least see some of Hunter. Sweat clearly running down his face. "W-W-Where did you get that knife?!" Did he have it on him the whole time?! If Alister found out, there was going to be BIG trouble.
"That doesn't matter right now! You gotta pay for embarrassing me like that!" His tail whipped violently behind him, showing his temper.
"H-How was I meant to know that was going to happen?!"
Hunter hissed, his ears falling flat, as he smashed Ratchet's feet to the ground. He pounced onto the other again, turning him to lay on his back, and snatched the knife into his hand. He laid the sharp blade on the Lombax's throat, as the other placed his own hands around Hunter's neck.
The elder Lombax unlocked the front door, just having come back from shopping, he stepped into the house once the door was opened; the bags dropped out of his grip at the sight of the two younger Lombaxes on the floor. "Ratchet?! Hunter?! What are you doing?!"
The knife dropped.
The hands fell a few seconds after.
Hunter hurried to his feet. "I have a perfect expl-!"
"Save it!" The white Lombax picked up the bags, closes the door with his foot while doing so, and placed the bags of shopping on the nearby table in the living room, stepping over to the other two after. He pinched and kept hold of the tip of Ratchet's ear, pulling him to his feet, ignoring the high pitched squeal.
The dark-golden Lombax sneered at the sight, but yelped at the sharp pain at the tip of his own ear from the General doing the same thing to him.
Azimuth dragged each Lombax to a different corner of the room, separating them so they couldn't fight, letting go of their ears after. "Now. Don't move until I get back! Understand?!"
Ratchet sighed heavily, his shoulders slouching. "Yes, Alister..." Ears drooping.
Hunter turned away from the corner, arms crossed, and ignored the elder. He wasn't going to let this happen; be treated like this. He was an adult!
The older one noticed the other's actions, and walked over to him. He gripped Hunter's arm, swiftly turning him back to face the corner again, and landed a hard smack on his bottom. He shoved the younger back into the corner, then withdrew his hand. "If you're going to act like a child, then I'll treat you like a child!" His amber eyes watched the Lombax look at his feet; his ears also picking up angry mumbles but simply dispatches them.
Alister went to go pick up the bags again, walking into the kitchen to put things away, and to start preparing for dinner; picking up the knife on the floor, the one that Hunter had, on the way.
Ratchet glared over at Hunter. "Way to go, Hunter..."
The other young male opened his mouth slightly, but was interrupted when the elder shouted from the other room.
"And no talking either!"
Hunter noticed his look a-like jump from surprise. Even he, himself, was shocked that the other heard that. But he quickly looked back at the wall, eyes burning a hole into the corner; mumbling under his breath again. "I didn't even wanna be here..."
It was about five minutes later until Azimuth strolled back into the living room, seeming calmer than he was before. "Both of you, come here." His finger was pointing down to the ground in front of him, showing them where he wanted them to stand. The two Lombaxes walked over, heads low. He waited for them to be in front of him before continuing talking. "I want you two to apologise to each other, and mean it." The last three words were directed at Hunter as he was looking at him.
Ratchet carried on looking down at his feet but glanced slightly at the other. "...Sorry, Hunter... I didn't mean to annoy you..." He rubbed his arm in guiltiness.
The other said nothing; arms crossed over chest as he turned his head the other way.
Alister frowned and narrowed his eyes at the short, dark Lombax. "Huuuuunteeeeeer..."
He sighed heavily in dissatisfaction. This was just ridiculous. "Fine! I'm sorry for almost hurting you." He huffed out, resting his hands on hips, tail swishing back and forth.
That would have to do it seemed. His face lightened up a bit, and smiled slightly. "Thank you, you two. Now! Hug and make up." He chuckled in his head at the youngsters' faces - it was priceless.
"WHAT?!" They yelled together.
Azimuth smirked at their reaction, loving to tease them. "You heard me. Hug."
Hunter felt his cheeks get a little warm again, much like the time when he was being tickled. "I-I'm not hugging him!" He turned around, ears flat against his head again; tail stiff but twitching in nervousness.
"Y-Yeah! S-Same to you too!" Ratchet spoke anxiously, tail tuff twitching, looking away in bashfulness - face slowly gaining a red tone like Hunter's.
"Do you really think you guys have a choice? Now, do as I tell you or no dinner for you two." His white ears picked up both Lombaxes sigh under their breath again.
Ratchet and Hunter adjusted their positions so they were facing each other. They gradually brought their arms around each other, but not really touching due to the awkwardness. Both of their bodies were at least half an arm's length apart, clearly showing they didn't want this to be happening. Both pair of golden ears were drooped as far as they could, and both tails didn't move at all.
Amber eyes rolled at the pathetic excuse for a embrace. "You call that a hug?" A grin hushed across his lips as he placed one hand on each of the others' back, pushes them together fully so their bodies were pressing up against each other. "There! That's better!"
Hunter turned his nose up as his face went into a blushing state; as Ratchet's ear's quivered in embarrassment as well as going bright red in the face too. Both wanting the time to pass.
Alister backed away. "All right. Back in your corners now."
Ratchet and Hunter stepped away from each other quickly, but stared up at the older from his statement. "B-B-But...?" They mumbled at the same time again.
The elder Lombax chuckled once more. "I still don't think you've learnt your lessons." He shuffled them back into their corners, separating them like before, and then walked back into the kitchen to start cooking dinner. Laughing to himself from what happened moments ago. Boy, if there was only a camera to catch that on tape.
Another thirty minutes passed until Azimuth called from the other room, dishing up the food onto three plates. "You can move now! Dinner's ready!" He placed each plate on the table, grabbing the cutlery after and placing them on the table neatly. He filled three glasses of water, putting them on the table too.
Ratchet sighed with relief, his legs were beginning to ache from standing in one place for too long. "Finally..." He stretched his legs by walking around for several seconds and stepped into the kitchen.
Hunter frowned at the younger's actions, but said nothing about it, and stomped into the other room. He walked in to see the other two already sitting at the table. He directed himself to his chair, opposite Ratchet, and sat down. They all began to eat after. It was very quiet as they were taking bites of the food on their plates, until the white Lombax spoke up.
"So... Could either one of you tell me what you two were doing earlier?" He calmly said, looking at the youngsters while chewing a piece of meat.
He slowly looked up from his own plate to Hunter, who was glaring right at him, before glancing up at Alister. A sheepish grin appeared over his lips. "Well... Urm... You s-see-"
"-He was being annoying so I had to do something." Hunter interrupted.
A black eyebrow was raised. "What, by holding a knife to his throat?"
Hunter used his fork to play with his food, resting his elbow on the table as the side of his head laid against his fist - not saying anything at first. A sigh. "I was actually tickling him... but then he made me go that far." He hated admitting to things; it made him look weak. He frowned at the thought. He wasn't pathetic; Alister just loved to blame everything on him because he saw Ratchet as the goody-two-shoes.
Ratchet chuckled under his breath. "...Yeah... By embarrassing you..." He loved teasing the other golden Lombax - he could easily get away with it.
He slammed his hands on the table, making everything on it jump up slightly, - and Ratchet jerk - as he stood up in anger. "I heard that!" He bared his teeth, drilling a hole into the other's chest with his fire red eyes.
Alister unaffectedly carried on with what he was doing. "Hunter, calm down." He was use to this so many times by now, that he didn't have to act fast with the dark Lombax's short-temper. The two Lombaxes would pester each other almost everyday, so he knew exactly what to do if something happened.
His eye twitched in agitation. "I'm finished!" He march out the room, down the hall and into his and Ratchet's bedroom. The door was crashed shut into the frame behind him; the loud noise causing even Ratchet to jolt in his seat. "Wow..." He mumbled.
After dinner...
Ratchet rubbed a hand over his face, his eyes beginning to feel heavy. Him and Alister had been sitting next to each other on the couch, watching some holo-television for a few hours since dinner. "I think I'll head to bed early tonight..." He slowly got to his feet from the couch.
Azimuth looked up at the younger. "You sure?"
"Y-Yeah... Been a long day..." He was about to walk away until the General stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. His emerald eyes flickered into amber ones.
"You can sleep in my room tonight if you want a break from him... I don't mind sleeping on the couch for a while." He had done it plently times before in the past, and he wanted what was best for Ratchet.
A smile gently hushed over his lips. "Thanks, but... I know he won't hurt me." He touched Alister's hand and squeezed it slightly before starting to step down to the hall way. "Besides... I know he'd be calm now." He gave the other one last smile that day and turned to walk down the hall and in front of his bedroom door. Quietly opening it, he went into the room and clicked the door shut afterwards. He noticed Hunter laying on the edge of the bed.
They had to share a bed as they couldn't get another on into the room due to space. And the bed already in there was a big double one. There was also only two bedrooms in the house: the guest room and Alister's room. One of them would sleep on the couch if possible, but it's not very comfy after a while from Alister's experience.
Ratchet stripped down to his boxers to then change into pyjama bottoms after. He then laid down near the edge of the bed, getting under the covers like Hunter was. "Hunter...? You asleep...?" He whispered softly, not wanting to disturb him if he was.
His ears lowered, replying back with the same tone of voice. "No..."
He exhaled again. "Look... I'm sorry for... you know... embarrassing you like that..."
Silence.
"..." Another sigh. "...You don't have to forgive me, but... I just wanted to let you know about my apology again..." After not getting another sound from the other, he closed his eyes - sleep coming quickly.
Hunter looked down sorrowfully. "...I'm sorry too... For everything... Even from the start..."
WELL, here's a random one-shot of Hunter if he had a body of his own - wasn't connected to Ratchet - and was living with Ratchet and Alister on Torren IV. Just some of the things they would get up to - mainly fights...
I'm planning on writing another one-shot based on Hunter staying with the other two Lombaxes - so keep a look out for that if you liked this one!
Ratchet, Alister, Lombax species (c) Insomniac Games
Hunter, writing (c) Me