Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its characters. *rolls up in a car I don't have yet that's blasting "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga* *puts arm over the lowered window and lowers the volume* "It's crunch time, b**ch."

Raindrops

XVI

Every so often, the little robot would peek over the top of his journal to giggle at his friend.

Ratchet laid across the couch, his whole body stretched from on end to the other. One leg hooked over the top of the middle cushion, and the Lombax's right arm dangled to the floor. His left hand lazily gripped the hardcover book resting against the fluffy yellow chest. The book leaned dangerously close to the Lombax's chest, just vertical enough for the blurry green eyes to shift across the page.

Clank did everything in his power to hold back a giggle. The Lombax was going to fall asleep, or…

The soft ambience of the calm rain outside their Meridian City apartment did Ratchet no favors. A steady rhythm, a calm atmosphere that could make anyone want to just snuggle under covers and sleep away the day…

Clank looked back to his reading, the scientific journal providing another argument to the great Bulletin Boards vs. Email Announcements Debate the academic community spent far too much money researching on. Optics skimmed over words, not really reading the letters, before glancing back over at the Lombax.

If he knew the book well enough, then Ratchet would get to it-

"No way." Ratchet jackknifed up from where he lay, suddenly wide awake. The blur in his eyes disappeared as he leaned as close as he could to the pages, eyebrows furrowed in concentration before they lifted in shock.

The little robot lowered his reading, the knowing and evil smile on his mouthpiece.

With a simple snap, Ratchet put the book down against the couch, righting himself. His feet touched the floor as he stared at the wood and blinked, expression running through almost every emotion.

"Eheeheeheehee."

Gloved fingers ran over furry eyelids. "You knew that the entire time, didn't you?" Ratchet looked to the little robot, a mixture of surprise and frustration on his face. "How could you not tell me?! How could you not tell me she was going to die?!"

"I was banned from announcing spoilers after you read the last book I had read beforehand." Clank tapped a finger against the journal. "I bet you wish that I had spoiled that part for you before you came across it so you would have time to emotionally process the scene…"

Ratchet fell completely silent. With a shake of his head, the Lombax smacked his hands against his legs. "No," he said, words full of the same surprise and frustration that was on his face. "No. Nope. No. How could she- No. No."

He stood, legs moving him to an open space where he could pace back-and-forth. Ears bounced as bare feet thumped against the floor, the Lombax in such deep thought Clank had to hold back the urge to laugh again.

After a good few minutes, Ratchet stopped pacing. "You know what," he started, raising an index finger at the little robot. Silence flooded the space as Ratchet's other hand lifted and he made a mock surrender gesture. "No. No."

Clank looked back down at his reading. Wait for it…

A thump sounded on the couch, and the loud sound of paper rustling echoed throughout the living room.

"Well… I gotta find out if she's actually dead or if they're gunna resurrect her later."

"Eheeheehee… oh Ratchet…"

I don't usually do this anymore because FFnet doesn't have as good a reply system as Ao3 (which is why I very much reply to comments there, but not at all here), but a few things popped up so I wanted to address them. Max, the Miraculous/RaC crossover fic that's been in my "To-Write" list is set to come out sometime in February so that I have something to be published while I'm prepping for Mari March. Little more time to wait, but I need something for February and January's already stoked with updates I need to make. Eris, it was nice seeing you again, and I haven't forgotten about your request, I have been working mainly on trying to finish this project before January's done. It is something that's in the back of my mind, and I will try to work on it when I have the time and energy for it.

Again, thank you so much to the people that comment and read! I'm thankful you guys have been sticking around for so long, and I'm excited to finish this up soon! I have a couple more ideas, then we'll end it with what I promised to do many many chapters ago. *sighs* HHH, final stretch time...

Hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to see you all in the next chapter! ^^

XD