Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its characters. *sees acearo-phobia* Me: "I shall now produce content out of pure spite, and because I've seen a few peeps in the fandom headcanon Ratchet as ace and I want to give them content for that headcanon."
The details of sex are not discussed in here, just on whether or not to have it, but this fic will be rated T for safety.
Starting a Family Another Way
A smooth hiss sounded from the knife as it sliced through the raw white meat.
Furred hands, free of the heavy work gloves that usually covered them, carefully lifted the small chunk of meat into the spiced-flour bowl. Spices and flour stuck to the meat, coating the savory food with tasty flavors. To his right, a deep-fryer bubbled, already frying up the last batch he had been working on.
Whistles left his mouth as he swung his hips to the stray tune in his head, the long yellow tail swishing cheerily behind him.
Dying rays of sunlight filtered through the windows into the quiet apartment. Even with the apartment's placement in the center of Meridian City, the little nook had a charm to it, a perfect place to call home. From where the Lombax stood, he could see his living room over the breakfast bar and look out the long windows to the bustling city miles below.
A soft laugh bubbled in his throat as he took a quick glance up before going back to cutting more white meat.
Thump.
"Ah! Dang it!"
"You okay, Tal?" Ratchet called, craning his neck to try and see what had happened.
The sigh echoed around the kitchen as Talwyn kept her right foot lifted, her leg rocking back-and-forth. "I'm good, I'm good… Wasn't looking where I was dropping the laundry basket and accidentally dropped it on my toes."
One corner of Ratchet's mouth lifted higher than the other. "Careful there, Tal. I dunno how the Defense Force would feel if you were taken out by a laundry basket."
"They'd probably have quite the laugh," she countered, setting her foot back down against the carpet. With her hands empty, she stepped over and around the breakfast bar, making her way to be right in front of Ratchet. "I have no doubt that they'd write it on my tombstone, and that I'd go down in history as 'the Captain that took down several corrupt crime syndicates but couldn't handle the pain of a simple laundry basket.'"
The laugh in the Lombax's throat rose up, and Ratchet's sly chuckle filled the space between them. As Talwyn took the seat right in front of Ratchet, he shook his head with amusement as he turned his attention back to the raw meat on the cutting board in front of him. "Now THAT would be an interesting funeral…"
A small laugh came from Talwyn, then soft silence settled over the area.
More meat dropped into the seasoned flour, coating the chunk and getting it ready for frying. Skilled fingers worked the knife and angled the sharp tool to cut the meat into perfect slices. Sizzles and pops came from the fryer as it continued to do its job, filling the air with savory smells. As the seconds dragged on, Ratchet started whistling again, hopping back onto the old tune that had been stuck in his head.
The two occupants bathed in the quiet and peace of the moment, soaking in the sweet love their company always gave them.
It was a perfect moment in time.
Very slowly, Talwyn's expression changed.
Her grin lowered, dipping into a more serious form. The pink of her tongue flashed against her pursed lips as she shifted on the high chair.
"Hey… Ratchet…?"
Yellow ears bounced slightly as he lifted his head, teasing grin already on his face. "What is it, beautiful?"
Her eyes looked off to the side for a moment before coming back to meet with his. "On the topic of pain… extreme pain really…" She froze, her mouth moving without sound. Her head nodded, her tongue running over her lips one more time before she seemed to find her voice again. "I wanted to ask… we've been dating for some time now…"
"You wanna get married?" Ratchet asked, a serious look replacing the grin he previously had. The knife sliced through the last bits of meat, and as he scooped the last few chunks into his palms, he kept his eyes to Talwyn. "I always thought you'd be the one to pop the question, but if you want me to do it, gorgeous, I can see about doing something that will knock your socks off. I could honestly take a knee right now, but I think you deserve something more than a proposal over fried chickpun."
Pale pink fingers twirled brown hair, and her eyes darted back to the counter. "Actually, I do want to talk about marriage another time, but there was something else that I wanted to discuss with you… something couples usually do while they date or after marriage…"
It took a moment before the realization hit the Lombax.
His eyes widened as he slowed in working the spices into the meat. "Oh! You want to talk about… having sex…" He nodded his head, blowing out a shaky breath through his lips. A swallow bobbed in his throat, but his voice stayed stable. "Yeah, yeah… we can talk about it."
Talwyn's eyes moved back to his. "I wanted to check on it with you since you've never really seemed interested in having it, and I didn't want to just push it on you." A ghost of a smile touched her mouth, pulling at the edges of her lips. "I keep thinking of us a few years in the future, what if we want to be parents anytime soon…"
She cleared her throat, the smile fading away and returning to the serious expression. "If you're up for maybe having kids in the future, of becoming a dad the old-fashioned way… I want it to be something you're comfortable with."
"Oh, yeah, I'd love to become a dad!" Ratchet chuckled, his hand already lifting the fryer from the boiling oil. "I've thought of that too, and the thought of you tucking our kid in to bed at night is one of the happiest things I've ever dreamt up." His happy expression fell. "But… um…"
Like Talwyn did, he cleared his throat and centered himself back to the present. After a few shakes, he pulled the wired trap out of the fryer and dumped the fried chickpun onto an empty plate, then lifted the trap back into the oil.
Ratchet's mouth moved as his head bobbed, almost as if he was reassuring himself. It took a moment before he spoke, and Talwyn saw the gears whirring in the Lombax's head.
"I actually wanted to tell you this earlier, Tal, but there had never been a 'right' kind of time. We've never really gone far enough to make me uncomfortable, and I wanted to focus on staying in the present rather than worrying about the future." He met her eyes, dipping his head down in an affirmative nod. "I'm ace -known it ever since Veldin really- and I'm really not interested in having sex at all. It always felt wrong to me, something I didn't want to do because I didn't have any urges to do so."
He kept his eyes to Talwyn as the woman shuffled off her seat and stepped around the long end of the breakfast bar. "I'm usually quiet about it because I wasn't really well-received back when I grew up in Veldin's orphanages, and that gave me some issues with talking to people about it." He looked away as Talwyn padded across the tiles of the kitchen floor. "But… I've been thinking about starting a family too after we get married, and I'm willing to do whatever you want, no matter how I feel."
Water trickled into the sink as Talwyn washed her hands behind him.
"I know how much you want a family and how much it would mean to you, Tal." The Lombax licked his lips, shifting on his feet. "You've had a lot taken away from you over the years, and I don't want to take another thing away from you. If you need me to have a kid…" The words died at his mouth, and his eyes dropped to the floor. "If you want it, I could… It's okay, I can…" his hand tucked behind his neck as green eyes dropped to the floor "-what I'm trying to get at is…"
Gentle fingers, soft and slightly cold, bumped the bottom of his chin.
Ratchet looked up to his girlfriend, a soft smile on her mouth. "Hey," she started, her voice soft. "You're ace, so it's the end of the discussion for that path of having children." Fingers lifted and tucked behind one of his ears, and smooth skin rubbed against the yellow fur. "When we try to become parents, I want you to be as comfortable as I am, no argument. If one of us is uncomfortable with sex, then we don't need to have it." She cocked her had to the side, warmth and comfort radiating from her smile. "I don't need to have sex with you to know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Ratchet."
He pushed his head into her arm, pupils swelling in green eyes as he let out a long sigh of relief. "Talwyn, gorgeous… thank you." As her hand dropped away, Ratchet caught it and pressed a small peck to Talwyn's fingers.
Talwyn grinned as she turned to the cutting board, setting up one last large chunk of raw chickpun to slice up. Ratchet kept his eyes to her as he turned and set his fingers at the edge of the counter under the spiced-flour bowl.
"So… no kids the traditional way and you're okay with that." Another sigh left him, as if more stress was leaving his chest. "Do you wanna try adopting a kid?"
The smile that lit up Talwyn's face could have attracted a light-eating Z'Grute from a hundred miles away. "Definitely!" she said, careful to shift her attention between the knife and her boyfriend. "Though… If I know you, I think I already know who exactly you want to adopt…"
He mirrored her excited grin as he bumped his hip against hers. "How 'bout a small girl, getting close to pre-teens, maybe a pre-teen already, from Magnus…?"
Fingers stuttered in their slice as Talwyn dropped the utensil. Her hands darted up to her mouth, and as she turned her head to Ratchet, the Lombax caught a glassy film spreading over her eyes.
"Yes," she said behind her hands. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes-"
Her hands moved to her cheeks, and Ratchet caught the massive smile that spread across the lower half of his girlfriend's face.
He grinned as he cocked a finger gun at her. "She doesn't say it too often, but Susie really likes things that are yellow and pink…"
Talwyn kept quiet for a moment before she looked back to Ratchet, her hands falling from her cheeks. "I'll get the papers together the moment I go back in on Monday."
Ratchet laughed, the deep belly-laugh echoing around the kitchen. "Which papers: marriage or adoption?"
"Adoption. Marriage." Talwyn closed her eyes, rubbing her hands over her eyes as her voice cracked. "Hell, I'll do both at the same time."
"I don't doubt that you would," Ratchet laughed. "Do you want me to start getting the room put together, or do you want me to head to Magnus and ask her first?"
She calmed, bits of excitement still weaved into her body language, and picked up the knife to continue where she had left off. "Definitely ask her first, we don't want to just assume…" A giddy breath left her mouth as her hand shook while she cut. "Oh, Orvus… this means we could be parents really soon…"
Ratchet bumped his hip against hers again. "And there's no one I'd rather share the task with…" He paused, eyes looking off to the side and a tease in his smile. "Well, maybe with Clank, but I don't think he'd appreciate my kisses as much as you do."
A snort left Talwyn as she rolled her eyes. Metal clattered against the cutting board as she set the knife down and let the Lombax scoop up the chunks of meat. "If you're going to continue making jokes like that, then you're already perfect for the dad role."
"'Course, gorgeous." He winked as he dunked the meat into the bowl. "It's why you're going to marry me."
She shook her head, the last rays of sunlight beaming softly through the window and illuminating her happy features. "I love you, you big goof."
Warmth balled in Ratchet's chest as he pictured the future. Susie sitting with Talwyn as he watched them; him picking Susie up from a school and asking her how her day went; Susie winning her first award and grinning up at both her parents as they gave her praise.
It was perfect and it felt better than anything he had previously imagined.
"Love you too, Tal," he breathed, adoration adding to the green of his eyes.
I hope this story turned out alright! This is one of the ways I want to present asexuality, as there are numerous ways that an orientation or sexuality can be discovered or expressed to others [in a respectful way]. I also don't just plan on writing stories with just Ratchet as the person with the different orientation or sexuality; I've seen people headcanon him as certain identities more than other characters, and since Ratchet is the fav character of one of my ace friends, I wanted to give them something that they could hold onto. One of my other friends likes Qwark a lot, and I would love to do an Ace!Qwark as another possible fic for the future.
Again, if there is something that something that feels far off the mark or is hurtful to the minorities I write about, please let me know so I can fix the issue before it does more harm than good. I try to do my research and listen to members of the minorities as best I can, though there may be biases that I still have not overcome.
Nonetheless, thank you all for reading and supporting! :D