Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its characters. The prompt list I am following is "SOFTober" by wafflesandkruge of Tumblr.
I made a pact with assassy-art: for every hard drawing of her big project she completed, I would write a lil Ratchet- or Talchet-centered drabble. Here's the first drabble I wrote! :)
The Snack that Smiles Back
(Softober Day 29: Sweet)
"Right… what was the next step?"
A white-powered Lombax leaned over his outstretched arms, peering to the tablet set up next to him on the counter. Green eyes scanned the baking recipe. Teeth nibbled on the corner of his bottom lip.
"Okay, okay, now I just need to add a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring…"
One of his hands lifted from the batter bowl, dripping with completely liquid batter. The white mixture dribbled onto the countertop, and there was little the Lombax could do to avoid coating the little flavoring bottle with the gooey mixture.
Around him, the oven screeched with the announcement that the timer Ratchet had set earlier was up. Almost every cooking utensil, measuring cup, skillet, and eating utensil littered every countertop, decorating the usually-peach-colored wood with a mess of metal and goo. The smell of burned baked goods hung over the apartment's kitchen, and with each moment, the smell only grew with intensity.
Worry balled in Ratchet's chest as he eyeballed the vanilla flavoring bottle. His head turned, giving him a quick look at the oven to his far right.
"They look… fine," he said, more to assure himself than the empty apartment around him. He looked into the lit oven. "They could use one more minute. I can totally finish this-"
The oven's timer screeched out louder.
"I KNOOOOW!" Ratchet yelled, turning back to the vanilla flavoring bottle. "Just gimme a minute!"
His other hand lifted out of the large bowl and snagged the small teaspoon by the sink. With great care, and with his tongue stuck out of the side of his mouth, Ratchet slowly poured out a teaspoon's worth of vanilla flavoring into the plastic utensil.
A quick turn of his wrist, and a tiny splash of vanilla landed into the watery batter.
Ratchet scrunched up his face, a large frown pulling at his mouth. His brows furrowed, and an annoyed hum burned in his throat.
"That's not enough vanilla." He crossed his arms, smearing batter around his elbows. "You're totally not going to taste it, not with that much." His eyes narrowed to slits, and he lifted the flavoring bottle. "All you need is an extra splash, then one more mix before I put you in the oven-"
Said oven let out another harsh screech just as Ratchet tilted the bottle. A heavy splatter hit the batter, and when Ratchet yelped and lifted the bottle back upright, the bottle felt much lighter.
It looked like half the bottle had been dumped into the batter.
With a frustrated growl, Ratchet set the bottle down on the counter and whirled around to the oven. "Would you just calm down for a minute?!" he yelled, glaring at the glowing oven. He stuffed his hands in the pink oven mitts by the oven's side. "I knoooow that the timer's up! The cookies just needed another minute before-"
The moment he opened the oven door, a wave of heat and the smell of burned baked goods hit him full force. Ratchet leaned back, grimacing at the sensory overload. By the time he forced his eyes, the cookies on the pan were a lot blacker than the normal shade that golden-brown cookies usually were.
A tired sigh left the Lombax as he scooped the flat pan out of the oven and set it down on the sea-blue towel next to where his oven mitts had been.
"Great… another failed dessert…"
Clicks and hard jolts echoed throughout the apartment. Clank's happy giggles and Talwyn's melodious laughter reached his ears before both the robot and Markazian fell dead quiet.
"I'm in here!" Ratchet called out, turning around to the kitchen's entrance. From where he was standing, he could see the clutter of shopping bags around Clank's and Talwyn's arms. "Just… trying to make something for the potluck tomorrow…"
Both the robot and Markazian took one look at the flour-dusted, batter-covered Lombax, looked to each other, then lifted hands to their mouths to cover their laughter.
"Ratchet, the flyer said to bring something for the potluck," Talwyn said, failing to cover the giggles bubbling from her chest. "It didn't say to turn yourself into a baked good."
Ratchet's ears dropped with defeat. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you two," he grumbled, waving a hand at them. "But you won't be laughing when Qwark comes after us for not having anything to bring to the potluck."
Talwyn shared another look with Clank, and both lifted up their shopping bags.
"Groceries for this week-" Talwyn started.
"-Along with several containers of baker's cookies and brownies, carefully attuned to every creature's food allergy," Clank finished.
Ratchet sucked in a breath, puffed out his chest, raised a finger, and-
"You know what?" he huffed. "I give up."
Talwyn smiled, and Clank started walking towards the kitchen. "We'll help you clean up, sweetheart. You just relax and clean yourself off."
The Lombax sighed, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. I'm going to take a quick shower and change." He slipped off the pink "Kiss the Kitty C ook" apron and maneuvered around Talwyn, who was already reaching for several of the smaller mixing bowls.
Clank immediately started putting groceries away in the fridge. As the little robot leaned into the cold fridge, Ratchet turned back around and tapped Talwyn's shoulder.
She looked back to him, slight confusion and surprise on her face.
"Hey, Tal," he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Since I'm covered in flour and practically ready to go in the oven… I guess you could say I'm a total snack, huh?"
Her hand pushed his grinning, laughing face away. "Just get in the shower," she said with a roll of her eyes.
"Thanks for getting stuff for the potluck, guys!"
"You are welcome, Ratchet."
"Just go shower and change!"
"Love you too!"
Ratchet's mischievous laughter mixed with Talwyn's groan and filled the entire smoky-atmosphere of the apartment.
Song Inspo: "the snack that smiles back" by Shawn Wasabi.
Giving Ratchet more fluffy stories is something I need to do more often HHH. Thank you all for reading! :D