Finally got out of my writer's block and figured out how to actually start this goddamn chapter now. So, sorry for the wait, I hope you enjoy!
"I still don't think this should count on our scoreboard." Ratchet pouts, crossing his arms as he walks with Rivet back to her hideout, with their partners attached onto their backs as usual. "I mean, you have the homefield advantage! You know exactly where to dodge those trees and bushes and stuff! I don't!"
"I don't see what the problem is, Mister I'm-the-Greatest-Hoverbooter-in-the-Galaxy," Rivet smugly replies with a cocky smirk, "If you were really that great, then surely you'd have the skills to analyze the path ahead of you and figure out the most optimal, perfect path to beat me at our race, and not clothesline yourself on a tree branch because you got startled by a Speetle popping out of a bush."
"That was an outside interference and you know it." He argues. "So, this race should be officially null and void from the record because of that. It's only fair, after all!"
"Uh huh. Sounds like you're just a sore loser, hotshot. Quite literally, too, given how hard you smacked your face into that branch." She says with a snicker, prompting Ratchet to groan, rolling his eyes. "Which, you're welcome for the nanotech, by the way."
Ratchet doesn't immediately respond, instead still opting to just continue pouting as they walk along, until he caves in a few seconds later with a sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Rivet." He mutters.
"No problem." She says happily with a grin. "And, don't worry, now that you're a lot more familiar with all those trees and bushes, I'm sure that you'll have a half-decent chance at coming close to beating me next time we do this."
He scoffs, crossing his arms. "Whatever. Next time, let's do this on Veldin. At least it'd be fair game out there since there's no trees or bushes or Speetles to scare the hell out of you as you fly by."
"Oh, really? But I thought that you just said that it was unfair having a 'homefield advantage'?" She asks smugly with a smirk. "Are you actually trying to cheat right now, Ratchet? For shame!"
He rolls his eyes as she snickers to herself. "You need to learn good sportsmanship, Rivet, getting all high and mighty just because you managed to not crash."
"Alright, alright, I'll ease up a bit." She says, waving a hand as her laughter dies down. "So… Guess our next little rendezvous will be over at your place, then?"
"Hey, it's only fair, right? Plus, I picked up the latest copy of Combo Clashers Six the other day, and let me tell you, it is awesome so far." He says with a smile.
"Wait, really? The next one doesn't come out for another month at least over in this dimension!" Rivet says excitedly. "When do you think we can come over?"
"I think tomorrow's pretty good—"
"Actually," Clank interjects from his back, "Tomorrow is our monthly cleaning of the garage, remember?"
Ratchet groans, slumping a bit. "Seriously? Can't we just put that off for another day, Clank?"
"No, because the last time I agreed to let you 'put it off', you procrastinated on it so much so that you accumulated a large enough pile of scrap parts that eventually toppled over and nearly broke off the tip of Aphelion's wing." He says sternly. "So, yes, we are spending tomorrow to clean the garage, Ratchet. You do not want to get chastised by Aphelion in case a similar accident happens once again, do you?"
He sighs, meekly shaking his head. "I guess not."
"Good." Clank says with a nod before turning his head to look over at Rivet. "Although, I suppose you are still welcome to visit tomorrow, if you would like. We would not mind the help, after all. In fact, it would be greatly appreciated, given the mess that Ratchet likes to accumulate."
"I'm not that messy, pal, calm down." He sulks.
"Erm, no, I think I'm good." Rivet says with a chuckle. "You two are fully welcome to enjoy that by yourselves, I'm sure me and Kit here will manage to keep ourselves occupied in the meantime." She says with a smug smile, thumbing over to her on her back while Ratchet returns a scowl.
"Perhaps like cleaning up your hideout as well?" Kit suggests.
"Wait, what?" Rivet asks with dumb surprise, turning her head over to look at her.
"I believe that we would benefit from a similar monthly cleaning day as well, Rivet." Kit explains. "Your hideout can be a bit of a mess, you know, and if we have the same cleaning day as them, it would guarantee that we would not have to worry about cancelling plans with each other because the other is too busy tidying up. It's a great idea!" She says happily.
"I don't—"
"Why, that is a wonderful idea, Kit!" Clank encourages her. "Now we can all be productive tomorrow!"
"Thank you, Clank!" Kit says, beaming with happiness as Ratchet begins to smile in smug vindication over at Rivet, who returns a harsh scowl before sighing in defeat.
"Yeah, sure, Kit. I guess we can do that." She says with little enthusiasm.
"I am glad to hear it, Rivet." She says gladly.
"Well, looks like tomorrow's off the table, then." Ratchet says amusedly as they finally make it to Rivet's hideout, where Aphelion was parked near the gelatonium factory, where a trio of Morts were currently going about their business, chatting in a small group together. "So… how about the day after tomorrow, then? That sound good?" He offers with a smile.
"Oh, erm, yeah, that sounds just fine to me." She replies, returning a smile of her own with a nod. "Sounds like a date."
But as soon as she says it, her eyes widen as she realizes what she said, and to a small part, Ratchet's as well, and she quickly stops walking and holds up her hands in defense as she starts frantically rambling.
"I-I mean, not saying that it is a date, of course! It's totally not! I'm just saying that I'll be glad to see you in two days so that we can hang out together again—and not on a date, like I just said! Because why would it be? We're just going over to your place to play some holovid games and hoverboot, and who would ever consider something like that as a date? Not me, no sir!" She states.
And as she returns a much-too-wide smile with eyes that did little to hide her internal panic, both Clank and Kit slowly shake their heads as Ratchet simply looks at her in concerned confusion, not responding for a few moments before he raises a finger.
"Erm… noted, then. Not a date, then… I guess?" He says reluctantly.
"Nope! Just a fund day where we can hang out as pals, is all!" She hurriedly agrees with a nod.
"…Got it." Ratchet agrees with one more odd look before he resumes walking over to Aphelion, and after a small sigh of relief, Rivet begins to follow him as well.
But that relief was cut short as Kit clears her throat. "Erm, I do not think you are following Clank's advice very well, Rivet." She says quietly, but not enough that Ratchet didn't overhear. "He said to be yourself if you want Ratchet to be attracted to—"
"KIT." Rivet sternly cuts her off through gritted teeth, looking over her shoulder with a renewed panic in her gaze.
"Wait, what advice?" Ratchet asks, stopping once again to turn towards them, bewildered as he glances between Rivet and Kit, before looking over to Clank on his back as well. "Is that what you and Rivet were talking about on your call the other day? Dating tips for her—"
"Mort!" Rivet belts out, raising a finger, but also prompting the trio of Morts near the gelatonium factory to halt in their conversation to turn their heads over to her in curiosity.
Ratchet blinks, blindsided. "I… what?"
Rivet lowers her finger as she clears her throat, trying to keep her racing heart to calm down a bit as she tries to salvage her way out of this situation. "Erm, that's right! Clank was just giving me some advice on, well, getting your attention, because Mort likes you!" She explains with a plastic smile.
"…What?"
"Yep! And I was just, you know, calling him on her behalf, because she's too shy to ask you herself, and that's what Kit was just talking about? Right?" She asks, looking over her shoulder with a glare.
"Erm… Y-Yes, that is right!" Kit agrees, albeit greatly intimidated by that near-murderous intensity in her eyes. "That is what I meant!"
Ratchet continues to look between the two of them, Rivet standing with that wide grin while holding her hands behind her back, and Clank on his back slowly shaking his head at this entire disaster.
"You're… saying that Mort is into me?" He states, looking absolutely perplexed at this revelation. "And you were asking Clank for advice so that she could… ask me out sometime? Is that true, pal?" He asks, looking over his shoulder
"I…"
He glances over to Rivet, only to be met with her giving him a very firm expression while motioning a thumb across her neck in a slicing motion, mouthing the word 'SAY YES' as she does so.
Clank looks back to Ratchet, still looking at him expectantly, completely oblivious to Rivet's unspoken threat just now to commit grievous bodily harm to him if he did not comply with her demand.
"Yes, it is true, Ratchet." He confesses, albeit with slight disappointment that it came to this. "Apologies for not telling you, but Rivet requested that I be discreet about this matter, for… Mort's sake, yes."
"But… I…" Ratchet looks back to the ground with conflicting confusion, lost in his thoughts before he glances over to the group of Morts watching them over in the distance, and looks back to Rivet while thumbing over to them. "They want to date me?" He asks in shock.
Rivet raises her hands, feeling immensely relieved that this was actually working. "Hey, I was surprised when she told me, too. But, hey, what can you do, you know?" She says with a shrug.
"I—"
"Well, one thing that you can do is to stop thumbing over to them like that, you're going to intimidate her if you do that!" Rivet quickly adds. "Better yet, don't talk to them at all until I say so, and just let her approach you first, because she's very shy about her crush on—"
"My, that Ratchet fella's a handsome one, dontcha know!" They hear a Mort call out.
They all freeze and snap their heads over to the Morts by the gelatonium factory, seeing that the group was resuming talking once more.
"Oh, I know right?" One agrees. "He's a tall drink of lemonade, that one!"
"Dontcha mean short, actually?" Another counters.
"Well, that just means he's got all that sweetness concentrated into a nice package, then! And he's got such pretty eyes, doesn't he?"
"Mort's a lucky one if she manages to snag him for herself, that's for sure!" The first one agrees. "Here's hoping she actually grows the lemons to march right up to him and ask him out himself, dontcha know!"
"Cheers to that!" The second Mort agrees, raising his own glass of lemonade and clinking it with the first's own glass before they take a swig.
Rivet, absolutely shocked and horrified at what she just heard, simply stares at the Morts in disbelief as they then transition to which pipes around the factory were starting to get leaky and how much longer it'd be until they had to replace them.
But a few seconds later, she begrudgingly breaks her gaze from them as she hesitantly turns back towards Ratchet, wearing an expression of absolute bewilderment and distress, eyes furrowed as his mind was undoubtedly racing with thoughts of who-knows-what.
But before Rivet could speak up to possibly even begin to deal with the situation, Ratchet shakes his head a bit before turning to meet her gaze, and does his best to muster a small smile as thumbs back over to Aphelion.
"I'm, erm… gonna go home now." He says. "I'll… see you soon, then!"
"I…" Rivet shakes her own head as she too tries putting on a smile. "Erm, yeah! See you in two days!" She bids farewell with a small, timid wave.
And she continues waving even as Ratchet gives her a nod, walking back to Aphelion, and blasting off into the sky, and letting her gaze linger off into the clouds where he shortly disappears before dropping her hand and snapping a glare over to the group of Morts, and sternly marches over to them as they appear oblivious to her approach.
"So, then I say, 'No, Mort, I'm pretty sure we could just wrap a rag around it and it'll be as right as rain until we can get a new fitting onto it, dontcha know!'" One explains amusedly. "And, wouldn'tcha know it, that rag's been tied up on that pipe for the last 4 weeks and not a drop's been leakin' out of that thing!"
"Well, that's some good ol' Mort ingenuity for ya!" Another agrees with a chuckle before taking a sip of lemonade.
"MORT!" Rivet's voice suddenly cuts through as she stops before them, throwing up her arms. "What in the hell was that about just now?!"
"Oh, how ya doin', Rivet?" The first one greets pleasantly, completely unintimidated by the murderous look in her eye. "Are you talkin' about that leaky pipe over by pump three over there? Don't worry, if that rag hasn't worn out now, I'm sure it'll be fine for the next—"
"I'm not talking about that stupid pipe, I'm talking about what the hell you were saying about Ratchet a minute ago!" She states furiously, throwing an arm to where they were just standing.
"Oh, yeah, that. What about it?" The second Mort asks nonchalantly with a shrug.
"What do you mean 'what about it?' Why in the hell were you three talking about him like that?!" She demands, crossing her arms.
"Well, first off, I think you need to take your foot off the swear pedal, little lady." The third Mort advises in between sips of lemonade.
"Oh, I'm sorry, am I not entitled to voice my concern when I hear you guys rambling about how pretty his eyes are!? Again, where in the hell was that coming from?!"
"Well, it came from you, dontcha know." The second Mort casually tells her, motioning a hand over to her.
"I—Wait… what?" She asks, stopping in her tracks as she tilts her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, Kit there told us yesterday about the call you had with that Clank fella, dontcha know, and about how to get that little Lombax's attention on ya." He explains.
"But also, about the fact that you said it was advice for Mort instead of you, Rivet." The first one adds. "So, you say that Mort's got a crush on Ratchet, and we're here to make it happen." He explains with a shrug.
"Wait, you talked to them, Kit?" Rivet asks over her shoulder.
She gives a nod. "Erm, yes? I did not think it would be a problem if I asked them not to tell Ratchet about it as you did with Clank, though. Should… should I not have done that?"
"I… no, I think you'd be fine to trust them, Kit, don't worry." Rivet assures her, making her smile a bit as Rivet turns back to the Morts with a stern look. "But, why are you guys trying to flirt with him, then? None of you have a crush on him!"
"It's to teach you a lesson, young lady." The third one tells her, raising a finger. "You can't just be going around hiding behind Mort for your true feelings about that Ratchet fella, or else you'll be doing it all the time and putting it off!"
"So, we agreed that given the chance, we'd mess with you and flirt with him a little bit as incentive for you to hurry up and ask him out already!" The first one states.
"That's… but… guys, I have to wait for the right time!" She says, crossing her arms with a frown, albeit cooled off from her confused anger.
"And how long's that gonna take, huh?" He asks. "You two have been hanging out nonstop for months now ever since you got rid of that nasty Emperor, dontcha know. Any time's a good time to ask him out now! The only thing stopping ya is yourself, and we're not gonna be letting you do that anymore."
"And, you know, we can ask him on your behalf, if that's what ya need!" The third one offers eagerly. "Invite him over for some nice pie and lemonade, get into some small talk, then tell him how much our little Rivet's been talking about him, and how nice it'd be if you got together—"
"NO!" Rivet says firmly, waving a hand across. "You guys are not doing that! And you guys are not flirting with him anymore either!"
"Well, then hurry up and get off your keister and ask him out, then!" The first Mort retorts. "Or else we'll keep talking about how dreamy his eyes are and how nice and muscley he looks swinging that big ol' wrench of his around, dontcha know!"
"Not if I stop having him come to Sargasso!" Rivet counters, raising a finger.
"Well then, we'd start organizing trips to Zurkie's just to watch you and him go on in that arena of theirs!" The second Mort argues. "And if you stop going there, we'll ask that Gary fella out on Savali to get us over to his dimension so we can flirt with him over there, too, dontcha know!"
Rivet groans, facepalming. "Why in the hell are you being so tenacious about this?" She mutters.
"Because we're sick of hearing you goin' off about how pretty and cool and funny he is all the time and doing nothing about it!"
She scoffs, lowering her hand. "I don't talk about him all the time."
"Yes, you do." All of them say in unison, even Kit from her back.
"Oh, come on!" She says, throwing up her arms.
"Like we said; stop your dilly-dallying and tell him your feelings already, dummy!" The first Mort says, walking over to her to pat her arm. "From what we've seen, he likes you, too, so you've got nothing to worry about, dontcha know!"
She rolls her eyes with a pout. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one asking him out."
"Sure, but we're the ones who are going to keep flirting with him until you finally get the guts to finally start dating him!" He offers with a smug smile. "We even held a workshop last night and brainstormed all sorts of compliments we could give him, so unless you want to hear 'em all, go ahead and tell him already!"
"I…" She gives a deep sigh, rubbing her eyes before turning around to walk back to her hideout. "I'll think about it, Mort. See you later, I guess." She says with a tired wave over her shoulder.
"Really? You don't want to stop by for a quick drink of lemonade, Rivet?" The third Mort asks, picking up a pitcher next to him before holding it up.
Rivet pauses in her walking, and after a moment's thought, gives a small shrug before begrudgingly turning around. "Alright, fine. I'm a bit thirsty after that race we just had, anyway." She concedes.
"Atta girl!" He exclaims happily as he pulls out a cup to pour for her as she takes a seat with them, still trying to look mad about their very eager way to help get her and Ratchet together, but unable to maintain it as they soon start having a very entertaining discussion about the worst patchworks they've ever seen throughout the factory.
"I mean, how am I supposed to deal with this, Clank?!" Ratchet asks, not bothering to fly as Aphelion took the liberty of autopiloting herself to Veldin after they hopped dimensions, as Ratchet was currently in too frantic of a state to fly safely. "The Morts actually like like me? This throws everything off!"
"Ratchet, calm down, I do not think that the Morts are infatuated with you." Clank tries to calmly advise him from the passenger seat.
"What do you mean? You heard them talking about how dreamy I am and about how pretty my eyes are!" Ratchet counters, looking over to him. "I just… How am I supposed to let them down? I like Rivet, not them!"
Clank sighs, shaking his head. "You just simply say 'no' if—and I cannot stress this enough—if they ask to court you. It's as simple as that."
"It's not simple, Clank, they're like, her parents! How do I explain that I want to date their daughter instead of them? Just imagine how awkward it'd be at, like, dinners and picnics and stuff!" He continues to ramble. "Would Rivet think I'm some kind of asshole if I don't date Mort and hurt her feelings? Would they even let me date Rivet if I turned them down? How do I even handle a situation like this, Clank?!"
"By taking it one step at a time." He replies. "And, again, I promise you that this is some kind of misunderstanding."
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you come from a planet where things like 'he has pretty eyes' and 'she'd be lucky to snag him' don't mean they want to date me? I just… I need to think about this and plan some kind of course of action." He says, resting his hand on his chin as he stares out the window. "I do not want to ruin my chances with Rivet, and this is a great way to ruin everything if I mess things up bad."
"I…" Clank sighs once again. "Fine, go ahead, then. But I do not think you have much to worry about."
"Quiet, pal, I'm thinking." Ratchet says distantly, absent-mindedly waving a hand as he continues to stare out the window, Clank clearly seeing he was in his 'brainstorming' mode that he often took when faced with a difficult problem in one of his projects, and he simply shook his head as he too stares out the window, just wishing that he and Rivet would finally confess to each other so that they would get to stop worrying about silly situations like this from happening again.
Hopefully the third and final part will come more easily than this one did, now that I finished a few little other projects I've been working on, so, fingers crossed.
And, don't worry, I'm also planning a little extra special epilogue that I know some particular people have been dying to see as well, so be sure to stay tuned after this little fic is concluded. ;)