Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet and Clank or any of its characters. Probably uploading too much in one week (especially since Winter Break may have a shaky upload schedule), but I feel like some things need to finally be put out and updated. Plus keeping things updated stops me from falling into that trap of abandoning projects.
Raindrops
XI
Ratchet tore through the threshold, heaving in air as the tail of the storm soaked him to the bone and splashed into the house. The Lombax whipped around and slammed the door shut behind him, wincing as the roaring thunder crashed overhead and shook the house. He leaned back against the door, fingers fumbling for the locks as the wind pushed up behind him.
A relived sigh blew through his lips once the three locks clicked into place. The pressure against the door eased, and it took a moment to recover from the full sprint he had just taken. He blinked back rainwater as he slipped off his wet gloves, tossing them to the side as he gazed down at the clear puddle of water forming at his feet.
Fingers rubbed at closed eyes as he shook his head. It was going to be a hassle to clean up, but it had to be done.
He kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his shirt. "Hey, Clank? I'm home! You doing alright?"
Yellow ears twitched as the Lombax picked up Clank's murmuring in their room. At least Clank sounded similar to how he had left him, and not worse…
"Oh crap, that's right!" His hands dove for his front pockets. "Please don't be broken, please don't be broken, please don't be broken…"
The USB touched his fingers and Ratchet palmed it as he chanced a look.
It looked fine, if not freezing cold from the outside weather. His thumbs ran over the drive, checking for signs of water damage. When his thumbs found nothing, Ratchet cracked a small smile and relaxed.
With a slow stretch of his arms, Ratchet padded towards their shared bedroom. "Has everything been okay since I left?" he called out.
He slipped into their bedroom and he looked down to see the small robot stumbling around the room, little tidbits and facts spilling out of his mouthpiece. "The Floridian Swamp Beast's formal specie name is- the square root of pi times forty-two- and is equal to- the average income of a college student-"
Ratchet sighed as he looked down at Clank. The robot made to grab the large dresser's handles as the Lombax picked him up. The Lombax carried his friend to the little bed, Clank's ramblings still going strong.
"Well, on the bright side, you haven't gotten any sicker since I left." Ratchet lowered his friend onto the bed and tucked his friend under the covers before gently patting the round head. "Don't worry, pal, you'll be as right as rain in no time."
He nudged Clank's port open, then plugged the USB into the little port hidden inside Clank's chest. As Clank's systems went into sleep mode to allow the anti-virus program to run, Ratchet shut Clank's chest compartment and laid his friend down.
He slipped towards the door, bare feet making little noise. Before he headed out the door for the laundry room, he turned and looked back at Clank.
"Don't worry, Clank, we'll get you through it," Ratchet said, his hand clutching the doorframe. "Al told me it's the finest anti-virus program around, and it should clean up the funk the virus put you in."
Clank stayed silent, optics dark to the outside world. Ratchet stepped out into the hall and headed for the laundry room for towels. "I'll help you get better," he murmured, flicking on the little light and reaching for the lime green towels on the top shelf. "After all, that's what a friend is for."
A happy Thanksgiving (and Friendsgiving) for my fellow American followers OwO! Hope you all have some fun with family and friends, and I wish you lots of love going into December!
Updates relating to this story: I wrote Clank taking care of Ratchet while he was sick, so I figured I would write the opposite since Ratchet would do the same for Clank any day. Also I looked back through this and I think there's only one or two AUs in here... If I make another collection, it's set to be all AUs and Crossovers, but at the same time I think I'll put some AUs in because I want to have some more fun in different sandboxes.
And lastly, a reviewer named "Eris" asked for scuba-diving with the bois! I don't think I may put it with this collection, since I don't think its safe to swim while it's raining out (and this collection takes place over rainy days), but I have been working on it and I have made it a separate story. I'm sorry I've been taking so long on it Eris, and I will try to get it out as soon as I can.
Other than that, that's it on my end. Hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all in the next chapter! :D
XD