Thank you to Wolf-Chalk for once again inspiring me to create yet another masterpiece that has absolutely no subtext or inside jokes whatsoever, going so far as to creating a lovely drawing to illustrate this work because of how much it means to her that this story is shared.
Without her constant support, I wouldn't have had the motivation to create a heartwarming tale such as this.
Thank you for believing in me, Wolf-Chalk, you truly are an inspiration.
It was a cold night in Megapolis, small snowflakes falling from the dim sky in the quiet early morning. A thin layer of snow already built up on the ground from the steady precipitation over the night, a process that Rivet had witnessed almost in its entirety from having eagerly watched out the frosted window of Ratchet and Clank's apartment for most of the night, bundled in her warm scarf.
She sat next to the windowsill, laying her head on her arm as she witnessed the stars in the sky slowly begin to fade away from the steadily rising sun, not yet daring to peek over the horizon. She also watched the sparkling flakes dance on the light breeze as they made their gentle descent, and their fluid, calming movements sent her into a trance that threatened to make her fall asleep.
But while she was successful at fighting the drowsiness that was seeking to claim her, Kit and Clank, both of whom initially accompanied her in the sleepless night, ultimately decided to retire to their bedrooms to charge themselves, but not before giving an unheeded suggestion that she too go to bed.
She resolved to stay up until he got back, but even then, she couldn't deny that she was losing her battle with sleepiness, her eyelids feeling heavier by the minute, the falling snow threatening to simply hypnotize her into a slumber.
And as her eyes begin to close, much to her weakly protesting mind, the stillness of the world outside suddenly shatters as the distant sound of thrusters are heard.
The weariness of her body instantly evaporates as she sits straight up, picking her head off her arm as she leans forward to gain a better view out the window. Up above, a familiar Angel-Class Lombax ship begins to gently lower down onto the ground in front of Clank's apartment, kicking up some snow on the ground beneath her. And as Aphelion touches down, Rivet grins with an eager smile as she's able to spot her pilot in the cockpit, woefully underdressed for the cold weather.
And as Ratchet climbs out of the cockpit to hurriedly walk down the path, Rivet stands up and rushes over to the door, just in time to see him reach it through the small window.
And as he raises his hand to open it, he is surprised as it suddenly swings open, revealing Rivet's beaming face as she leans in the doorway.
Ratchet stands still for a few moments before he shakes his head with a small smirk. "Oh, I must have the wrong place," he states with a weak attempt at a confused expression.
It was a stupid joke, but Rivet can't help but give a small chuckle as she gestures to herself. "Counterpart?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.
Ratchet drops the act as he gives her a grin and a small snicker while Rivet steps forward to take him into a tight hug that he gladly returns.
"I missed you so much," she says from his shoulder.
"Me too, Rivet," he adds while giving her a small squeeze.
They let go of each other, staring into each other's eyes for a few moments before Rivet nods her head over her shoulder.
"Come on, it's cold outside."
He gives no protest as he follows her inside, shutting the door behind him before following Rivet through the living room, where a small pile of presents sat in the corner, waiting to be opened in only a matter of minutes.
"We stayed up all night for you, you know," Rivet says over her shoulder as they walk into the kitchen.
"Well, it's a long way from Veldin," Ratchet replies. "If I'd known my quick little pit stop there would've taken a whole day, I would've brought you guys with me."
She smiles as she hops up onto the island to sit on it. "Don't beat yourself up about it. The important thing is that you're here now," she says before gesturing over to the steaming coffee pot. "I made some earlier to help keep me awake, and I'm sure you need a little pick-me-up after that flight, huh?"
Ratchet gives a thankful nod as he walks over to it, and he can't help but inhale deeply as the heavenly aroma fills his nose. "Ah, real coffee," he mutters with delight.
He takes out two mugs from the cupboard above, and pours him and Rivet a cup before handing it over to her, to which she gives him a smile and a small thanks before they both take a sip, the warming sensation of the liquid feeling only half as great as the delight in simply being here with each other.
They look into each other's eyes over the rims of their mugs, and flash each other tender smiles as they bring them down from their lips, enjoying the soft silence together.
But then, Ratchet's eyes widen in sudden realization. "Ah, almost forgot, I brought you something while I was on Veldin," he says as he turns to grab something from his pocket.
Rivet puts her cup down onto the counter next to her while grinning in eager anticipation. "Really?"
"Yep," he says, looking back up at her as he reveals a small, black box, wrapped nicely and topped with a shiny red bow.
"Aw…" she mutters affectionately, taking it from his hand as he gives her a smile before returning to his coffee.
She inspects it for a moment, noting how light it felt for its size, but also with the way he clearly made sure to have the wrapping look nice, going so far as to get a bow to decorate it.
She fiddles with it with her finger, and finds that it's just one of the cheap, premade ones that you just need to stick on top of whatever present you have. It didn't do a thing to sour her opinion on his gift, however, as she considered the thought of topping it with a bow at all was a sweet gesture, considering that he didn't even need to have one at all if she was just going to toss it after opening it, anyway. It was honestly a shame that it was just going to be thrown away after only a moment's thought, too.
She gently pulls on it, and it comes off with a little more ease than expected. She's about to simply toss it aside to focus on the rest of the present before an idea suddenly pops into her head, and she slyly glances over to Ratchet, sipping on his coffee with content pleasure on his face. She glances back to the bow in her hand, and a smirk grows on her face as she looks back up at him, too focused with his cup of coffee to notice her.
She takes the bow, and swiftly places it on his chest, near the shoulder, making him put down the mug from his lips in surprise as he glances between her, and the bow now attached to his shirt.
"What are you doing?" he asks with a puzzled but amused look on his face.
"You're my present this year," Rivet says with a grin and a small, almost coy shrug.
Ratchet simply stands there, not moving as she gazes back at him with those loving blue eyes of hers, a nervous smile on her lips as she waits for him to react to her very cheesy gesture.
He looks back down to the bow on his shoulder, grazing it with his fingers before looking back up to her, his counterpart. Such a strange word that was, he thought. She was him, and he was her. The same person, but from another dimension.
And if that was the case, was it wrong to feel what he's feeling now as he looks into those beautiful sapphire eyes of hers? That small smile that threatened to melt his heart? The tender expression in her gaze that only seemed to reciprocate what he's feeling now?
To some, perhaps it was. But not him. He didn't care if it was wrong or right to think of his counterpart in that way, because no matter what the answer may be, all he knew is that he loved it. Just as much as he loved her.
A soft smile begins to creep on his lips as he sets his coffee down onto the counter next to him, not daring to break away from her entrancing gaze. He takes a step closer to her, and he can hear her quietly take a sudden breath as he places his hands over hers, still holding onto his present.
"W-What are you doing?" she asks anxiously, but makes no effort to stop him.
"Getting my present," he replies with a smirk, beginning to lean closer to her face ever so slowly.
Rivet's eyes widen, and she unconsciously takes a nervous swallow, feeling as if her heart's about to beat right out of her chest. Her grip tightens onto the box she's holding as he uses his own to give them a light squeeze. Their faces were now only mere inches away from each other, now able to feel the other's breath tickle across their fur, and she sees Ratchet flash her a quick smile before he closes his eyes, much to her disappointment, having wanted to be lost in the emerald sea of his soul for all eternity. But she shoves it down as she too closes her own, and leans forward, closing what little small space they had with each other.
Their lips touch, sending an electrifying wave of joy through their bodies. Whatever little doubts and feelings they had for each other instantly evaporate as they both lean further into the kiss, cherishing the touch of their counterpart as a soft noise of exultation leaves their mouths. Rivet moves her hand off of the gift she was holding, and turns them around to hold onto Ratchet's instead, giving them a firm squeeze, which he gladly returns.
And although it felt like a euphoric eternity for the both of them, they begrudgingly break the kiss as they come up for air, breathing softly as they look into each other's eyes once more, wearing elated grins.
"Best present ever," Ratchet states.
Rivet giggles. "Same here."
Sharing another smile with each other, they once again begin to lean forward for another kiss, both unbelieving that this was finally—
"Ah, Ratchet, you're finally home!" Clank suddenly declares from the entrance of the kitchen, Kit standing beside him.
"Gah!" Both Ratchet and Rivet cry out, jumping a little bit at his unexpected entrance.
"How was your flight from Veldin?" he asks innocently.
"O-Oh, it was, uh, good!" Ratchet says, plastering on a smile as he scratches the back of his head.
Clank squints at him, finding his reaction a little odd as Kit speaks up beside him. "What were you two doing in here?" she asks, tilting her head.
"Oh, Ratchet was just giving me a present!" Rivet replies, holding up her gift with an equally plastic smile as his in an effort to convince them of their innocence.
"Why is there a bow on Ratchet's shoulder?" Clank asks suspiciously, pointing to it.
"I, erm, took it off to unwrap it, and stuck it on him as a joke to annoy him, since it was so sticky!" she explains before nudging him with her elbow. "And I really gotcha good, huh?"
"Erm, yeah!" Ratchet agrees, shooting her a look that silently spoke 'seriously?' "You really got me good, too!" he says he throws his arm in a 'well, shucks' gesture.
Clank continues to stare at them skeptically as they look back at him with wide grins, nervously glancing between each other as Kit simply observes the whole situation with confusion.
"…Is there something going on that I am simply not detecting?" she asks anxiously.
"I… do not think so." Clank concedes, making the duo breathe a collective sigh of relief. "But, while we're here, why don't you finish opening your present, since Kit and I apparently interrupted you?"
"Oh, erm, right!" She agrees with a nod before turning her attention to the wrapped box in her hands.
She tears away at the wrapping, and after a few seconds, finds that it's a cardboard box topped with a lid. She takes it off, and reveals a folded piece of blue cloth. She tilts her head curiously.
"What is this?" she asks.
"A scarf!" Ratchet answers happily, pulling it out of the box for her to show its full length. "I know it's not red like you usually wear, but I thought it'd be nice to give you a little bit of variety. And, well… I thought it'd be a good color for you. It goes with your eyes." he says with a shrug and a coy smile.
Rivet doesn't say anything at first, simply staring at him in disbelief. But before Ratchet could ask her if she was alright, she shakes her head, looking back down at the scarf in his hands for a moment before she takes it herself. She then unwraps the one she's already wearing off her neck, and replaces it with Ratchet's, doing so quickly with a practiced ease.
And as she tightens it with one final pull, she looks back up to Ratchet with a wide grin. "I love it."
Ratchet's initial anxiety from her silence washes away as it's instead filled with a warm fuzziness that he's come to love and expect from her beaming smile. "I'm glad to hear it."
"Well, now that we've gotten that settled, why don't we go ahead and open the rest of our presents?" Kit proposes happily.
"I think that's an excellent idea." Clank agrees, turning to Ratchet and Rivet. "Unless you two have some sort of business to sort out first?"
"Don't worry pal, we'll be right behind you." Ratchet reassures him.
With a nod, Clank and Kit then walk into the living room to begin organizing everyone's gifts for each other while Rivet hops off the kitchen island, her red scarf in hand.
"You don't think he knows what we just did, do you?" she quietly asks Ratchet.
He shrugs. "I don't know, I wouldn't be surprised if he did. Why? Are you worried?"
She shakes her head. "Not really, but… it'd definitely be a little awkward tonight if he does know."
Ratchet furrows his brow. "Tonight? What are you talking about?"
With a sly look, she takes her scarf and throws it around Ratchet's neck before pulling him in a little closer as he stumbles in surprise.
"Well, you gave me two presents today, you know," she whispers, flicking the bow on his shoulder for emphasis. "But I still need to unwrap one of them," she says with a wink.
Ratchet remains frozen as she gives him a quick peck on his lips with a giggle before letting go of the scarf and walking away to join their partners in the living room, her words echoing through his mind. He looks down and grazes his fingers across the scarf still loosely draped around his neck, still warm from its time around Rivet's neck, and still smelling like her too, her hypnotizing fragrance wafting into his nose, and her taste still on his lips.
Yep. This was officially going to be the best holiday ever.
With a smile, he grips the scarf, and wraps it around his own neck before walking to join everyone else in the living room.