Ratchet looked around shyly, but tried to look brave. I watched him, interested on his motions and actions which were inspired by his unstoppable curiosity. I stood by the doorway to the cockpit, waiting for the lombax to take in his surroundings, so he wouldn't feel unsafe.
"Want to go, then?" I asked softly and he looked at me, dashing to me with quick steps.
"Yeah! Everything here just looks so cool!" Ratchet cheered as he stopped next to me, extremely excited. He certainly changed fast from what he was on the planet Veldin.
"Well, it's not much, but we get by." Giving him a simple comment, we walked inside the cockpit, where everyone else was. Captain Qwark was sitting on his "throne of heroes" as he called it, Helga was giving him weird looks from her seat by the computers where she used to sit and Al sat on the other side of the room, typing his own things on his computer and probably being the only one working in this room as usual. I used to help him, but I mostly investigated planets more than sat here. "That there is Helga." I pointed at the female robot, who kept on ignoring both me and Ratchet. "And that is Al." Saying this received the mentioned man's attention and he gave us a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, Clank, who's this?" He asked and before I could tell him, Ratchet spoke for himself.
"I'm Ratchet!" He proudly presented himself while looking around in awe. "This place is way cool! I bet you've travelled all across the galaxy with this thing!"
"You bet, young lad!" Captain Qwark stood up, puffing his chest bridefully as he placed his fist on it. "This baby has seen many battles and many planets! Qwark Junior, as I like to call her!"
This received a snicker from Ratchet, which he badly tried to hold in. He glanced at Clank, who looked like he would like to not hear Qwark's speeches again. "Seriously?"
"Believe me, it's one of the least ridicilous ones." Clank commented, making the lombax's eyes grow wider. The robot walked closer to Captain Qwark, who was going on about the ship and mostly on how amazing he had been on leading it. "Perhaps we should decide whether or not we will leave this planet? I believe there are still people who require our assistance."
"Never mind that! We are needed elsewhere! For a more important mission!" Captain Qwark cheered as he turned to the windows of the cockpit, hands on his hips. "The president himself has called upon us! Al, start the ship, will ya?"
"The controls are in front of you!" Al shook his eyes as he kept working on his own things, which mostly consisted of him uphrading the defense systems and making the ship's weapons more useful in battles and what not. He had no time for controlling the ship, since it degraded his intelligence or so he once told me.
"Oh, look at that! Good job!" Qwark praised, sitting down on his throne, putting the ship in autopilot so he could rest up.
"I'll be in my room, then." I sighed as I turned to leave the room. I gave Ratchet a short glance as still looked around in excitement, so I decided to leave him there and allow him to take his own time to take in the surroundings. At the moment, I couldn't really take Captain Qwark's actions or decisions so I left the room, heading for my own. I could at least rest up before the president's mission, whatever it was; I just couldn't help but feel a little guilty for the people, who possibly needed help. I only wished I could fight better.
"You miserable rodent!" I could hear Helga snap, which made me instantly turn around, but before I could run back, Ratchet came out of the room and ran behind me. "I'll teach you to mess with my work!" She snarled, running up to us, stopping right before me. "Clank, get out of the way! This rodent needs discipline and I've got extra rounds of that!"
"It sure looks like it..." Ratchet commented, which made Helga snarl even more. I gave him a glare, getting a nervous grin from him. It seemed that I may have miscalculated the ups on bringing Ratchet onto the ship.
"You filthy little-" Helga began to growl, which I had to interrupt so she would not attack the child.
"Come now, Helga. He is just a small child. What could he have possibly done that he would need this kind of treatment?" I asked calmly, while she still huffed with anger.
"He called me fat!" She snarled, which made me sigh. I didn't even know she would get angry over something like that. It's not like she cared what other people thought.
"I only asked why..." Ratchet whispered.
"Please, Ratchet, be quiet." I commanded and he did just that. "And Helga, would punishing him over that really accomplish something? I'm sure Captain Qwark would expect more from you." Mentioned said captain always helped to distract Helga from the matter at hand and as she commented something under her breath, she returned back to the cockpit with a glee she always got when thinking of that man. I turned to Ratchet and placed my hands on my hips, giving him an angry look. He squealed faintly, backing off a bit. "Look." I began calmly, not wanting to scare him off too much. "I know you are excited to be here, but I merely ask you to behave. I can not keep you safe constantly. Helga is a very cabable woman and she can AND will do anything to anyone, who anger her. She hostile to most people, so I suggest you to not make it worse." I lectured as Ratchet scratched the back of his head with a faint grin. His gestures made me doubt that he understood what I had just said.
"I'm sorry..." He apologized, which was a good start. This still would not do.
"I only want you safe, Ratchet. Please do not do anything foolish." I spoke with a softer voice, giving him more of a worried look this time.
"I'll try not to." He smiled childishly, his tail swaying from side to side. "But only not to you."
"Excuse me?" I asked, not fully understanding what he meant, but he didn't seem like he wanted to answer me.
"Where could I get some sleep? I'm beat." He yawned and I could help but smile at that. I walked him to my room and gave him a spot that wasn't as filled with the "scrap metal" that invaded my room. He curled into a ball, smiling as he drifted off to sleep and his tail swinging and twitching along with the dreams he possibly saw.
I kept on working on my own things for a while, trying to be as quiet as possible. Occasionally, I looked over to Ratchet to check if he was sleeping calmly. It was surprisingly calming to see him lay there in peace, still smiling and still twitching to his dreams. I could not even begin to guess what tomorrow would bring, but I would try my best to keep him on the right path.
