This was an idea that popped into my head out of the blue and demanded to be written, so after about 3 hours of work, here it is. Hope you enjoy!
"Jeez, are all Council meetings that boring?" Ratchet asks as he and Kaden enter the latter's home, of whom gives a light chuckle as he pats his back.
"What's the matter? Talking about budget reports of the Center's departments not exciting enough for you?" He asks amusedly, giving him a smirk. "Aren't you used to that by now, being friends with two galactic presidents?"
"No, because I still hate those kinds of meetings." He huffs, rolling his eyes. "Honestly a part of the reason I retired from being a hero, just so that I don't have to attend those things. Stars know there's been more than a few times I asked Clank to shoot me with a blaster so I can get out of them early through an ambulance."
"The fact that you found that to be the best excuse to come up with in an effort to skip these conferences never fails to astound me." Clank replies tiredly, hopping off of his back as Kaden closes the door behind them. "Instead of, you know, properly excusing yourself by simply saying you have important matters to attend to."
"Still, though." Ratchet replies, crossing his arms before looking back to his father. "But seriously, why did you have to drag me to one of those?"
"Hey, if you're a Keeper now, you're gonna have to get used to being in one of those meetings, since the Council is technically your boss now." He replies with a smile and a shrug before turning around and heading into the kitchen.
"Wait, what? Seriously? Are you saying that I have to be a Councilmember, then?!" Ratchet responds with dismay, slumping his shoulders.
"Nah, don't worry, that's pretty much optional. But showing up to a meeting when the Council needs your expertise are tasks you with an important job is not." Kaden astutely replies, raising a finger as he continues walking.
"I wouldn't mind it if the meeting was about sending me to a cool dimension or testing out some new guns or something, but like I said, this meeting was just about boring financial stuff!" He calls out, throwing up his hands.
"I did not think it was that boring," Clank argues, raising a finger of his own. "It is interesting to observe how the Lombax government functions!"
Ratchet scoffs, crossing his arms. "Of course you do."
However, as soon as he finishes saying that, they suddenly hear the sound of some upbeat music playing loudly from the kitchen, prompting their attention back over to the doorway leading to it, and realizing that Kaden had left the room during Ratchet's small tirade.
And, confirming their suspicions, they could also hear the sounds of various pots and pans being moved around as Kaden begins preparing their dinner for the night, and them barely able to hear his voice quietly singing along to the song in an absent-minded manner.
Ratchet looks back down to Clank with some slight confusion, to which Clank returns as well.
"Did he just, like… Forget that we were here?" He asks. "He's playing that a bit loud for just some background tunes."
"I concur, it does seem a little odd." Clank adds thoughtfully, placing a hand on his chin. "Do you suppose we should ask him?"
"No, I think we should just stand right here until he finishes cooking dinner and doing absolutely nothing." Ratchet says dryly, right before rolling his eyes. "Yes, Clank, I do suppose we should ask him, given that there's literally nothing else better to do."
Clank gives him an unimpressed look as he crosses his arms. "A simple 'yes' would have more than sufficed, Ratchet."
"I know, but that's not as fun as sarcasm." He replies with a smug smile before nodding his head over to the kitchen. "Now come on, let's see what's up." He says as he starts off towards the kitchen, leaving Clank behind as he annoyedly rolls his optics before following him as well.
And as they enter the kitchen, they see Kaden standing at a counter, chopping up vegetables that Ratchet still had yet to fully recognize, still needing to get acclimated to Lombax cuisine. And as he was slicing some root-looking foodstuff, he was still idly and quietly singing along under his breath, focusing on his knifework.
"Sha-la, la la la la," He mutters along with the music playing from a small speaker playing from the counter, sliding the chopped vegetables off to the side of the cutting board with his knife before grabbing another root.
"Erm, dad?" Ratchet asks, raising an eyebrow.
Kaden jumps a bit, snapping over to him, but then realizes something and reaches over for the speaker to turn it down while chuckling nervously.
"Oh, uh, sorry about that. What's up?" He asks amicably, resuming his chopping.
Ratchet huffs a laugh through his nose. "What, that meeting was so boring that me just talking about it bored you so much that you had to blast some music to fix it?" He asks amusedly.
"Oh, uh, yeah, sorry about that." Kaden replies with a shrug and small chuckle. "Force of habit. My mind said 'it's time to make dinner' so it went on autopilot, and forgot you were there for a sec. You know how it is, huh?" He asks, lightly nudging Ratchet with his elbow with a smile before grabbing one more root to chop up.
However, Ratchet's amusement falls for slight confusion as he furrows his brows, looking back at him. "Wait, what are you talking about? Blasting music during dinner's a habit for you? Not even Clank does that." He says, thumbing over to him now sitting on top of a stool at the kitchen island behind them.
Kaden stops in the middle of chopping, and Ratchet watches as a mixture of slight embarrassment and melancholy washes over his face before he then rubs the back of his neck.
"Oh, yeah, that's right. I guess that isn't really a normal thing other people do, huh?" He asks with a very small smile, looking back over to Ratchet. "Yeah, it's, um… Just a small habit that I picked up after the Exodus, is all." He says with a shrug.
Ratchet tilts his head slightly, wearing an expression of small concern. "Erm… What does that mean, then?" He asks reluctantly.
Kaden doesn't immediately respond, instead looking back to the cutting board for a few seconds, chewing his lower lip, seemingly debating whether or not to explain the cause of his odd habit.
But eventually, he gives a small sigh as he reaches over and pauses the speaker. "Well… You remember back when we went out hoverbooting, and I mentioned how tough it was adjusting to life without your mom?" He asks.
Ratchet blinks, not expecting an answer with that much weight to it. "I… Erm… Yeah?"
"Yeah. Well… Like I said back then, one of the hardest parts of adjusting was having to learn how to cook for myself, and eating alone at an empty table in an empty house." He explains somberly, now turning around to lean back onto the counter with a shrug. "And after living with her for years, and having our dinners be filled with all kinds of talking, and laughing, and joking—and even yelling, too, if it was a bad night… Having none of it tore me up," He states pointedly, looking down onto the ground as Ratchet quietly listens on with apt attention,
"I don't think I ever hated the sound of pure silence even more than in that first year after Marie's death. Where I should have been hearing her talk about her day, or me talking about my own, or you blubbering your little baby talk… I heard absolutely nothing. Nothing but me, and the clinking of my fork on the plate, just echoing in a house that shouldn't have been as empty as it was. That silence just taunting me, practically screaming at me the things I lost when that damned Cragmite came around." He says coldly, the familiar fury towards Tachyon creeping back into his gaze—one that Ratchet had come to be familiar with after reuniting with his father, and one that he sympathized with very well.
However, before that anger could bubble up into what would undoubtedly be yet another tirade about how that puny cockroach ruined his entire life, Kaden instead closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to cool himself down.
"But… Yeah. I couldn't stand dinners alone by myself. It was too quiet, way too quiet, and I couldn't stand it for more than a month before I decided to start playing music to at least get rid of the silence and distract myself from the fact that you and Marie were gone." He continues, picking his gaze up off the floor to instead glance back at the silenced speaker over his shoulder. "It wasn't a perfect fix, obviously, since nothing would really fix it except having you two back in my life, but it got the job done. My dinners got a bit better, now that I had some dumb songs to fill the silence instead of me imagining Marie's voice telling me about how you threw up on her earlier that day." He says, a ghost of a smile creeping onto his face, remembering how Marie would look at little baby Ratchet with pure annoyance, to which he simply responded with an innocent giggle with his dinner smeared all over his face.
"So, that's basically been my routine for these last twenty years." He continues, still looking at the speaker. "I come home, turn on some music, and make myself some dinner, trying to make this house feel a little less empty and lonely. I admit I never really needed the music or sound after a couple of years, having grieved for Marie enough that I accepted she was gone, but I still do it out of habit. It's fun to sing along when I'm cooking sometimes, too." He says with a light huff through his nose.
He then tears his gaze away from the speaker to instead finally look back to Ratchet, quietly listening on with a slightly melancholic look on his face, which was in contrast to the small smile on Kaden's.
"And I guess I really don't need the music anymore now that I have you filling that silence instead. Actually having you here with me again, telling me all about your day and goings on—just like what I always wanted." He says with a grin, stepping closer to Ratchet to take him into a hug, wrapping his arms around him with a content, blissful expression. "I love you, Ratchet."
Ratchet, initially a little surprised at the embrace, quickly shakes his head, and puts on a small smile of his own, returning the hug warmly. "I love you, too, dad." He replies.
He feels Kaden hug him a bit tighter—a usual response to that statement, he's come to have found by now—but Ratchet doesn't complain as they remain in each other's arms, each filled with a warmth and assurance that they had the other back in their lives after all of these years.
However, after hugging each other for some time, Kaden begins to let go of Ratchet while giving a small, nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his head.
"Erm… Sorry for ruining the mood with all of that. Didn't mean to get all heavy with that." He says with some embarrassment, wearing an awkward smile.
"What? Dad, you don't have to apologize for anything, don't worry." Ratchet assures him. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing for asking you and making you have to remember all of… that." He says with some embarrassment of his own, looking away with a shrug.
He hears Kaden give a light chuckle shortly before feeling his hand on his shoulder, prompting Ratchet to look back up to him to see him return a smile.
"No, don't worry, Ratchet. Like I said, I've had plenty of time to grieve and accept your mom's death, so it doesn't sting nearly as much as it once did back then. And besides, there's really nothing left to cry over if I have you back with me anyways, right?" He asks warmly.
"I… I guess, yeah." Ratchet replies with a nod and smile of his own.
"Good. Now, let's stop moping around and make ourselves some dinner, eh?" He says amusedly, lightly nudging Ratchet with his elbow before he turns around to face the counter once again, picking up the knife sitting on the cutting board, and grabbing another vegetable that Ratchet could vaguely recognize.
But as he begins chopping it up once again, Ratchet glances back to the speaker sitting on the counter in front of Kaden, a new question beginning to bounce around in his mind as he looks at it.
"Um… While we're on the topic…" He says a little nervously, prompting Kaden to glance back at him.
"What is it?" He asks curiously.
"Well… I know what kind of music you listen to, obviously, but… What kind of music did mom like?" He proposes, rubbing the back of his neck with a shrug and uncertain smile.
Kaden stops his chopping once again as he looks back at Ratchet with some surprise, instantly making Ratchet regret bringing it up as they just got done talking about how depressed his father was about her being gone that he had to play music to keep himself sane.
"Erm, n-nevermind, that was a dumb question," Ratchet replies hastily, waving his hands, "Let's just dorp it so you can focus on cooking while me and Clank head into the workshop to—"
"What? No, don't be silly, Ratchet, I'd love to teach you all about Marie's taste in music!" He says with a laugh, reaching over to give a reassuring pat on his back, making Ratchet smile with relief. "Or rather—lack thereof." He finishes, giving him a smirk.
"Wait, what? What does that mean?" Ratchet asks, tilting his head in confusion.
"It means that the kind of music your mom liked totally sucked." He says amusedly, now reaching for the speaker to browse through its catalogue on a small holographic screen. "I always joked that if she wasn't so pretty and cute, then I would've left her for someone who had some actual taste."
"Seriously?" Ratchet replies with an amused smile of his own. "And how'd she respond to that?"
Kaden laughs. "By saying the real reason I wouldn't leave her is because I know she's the only girl I'd find who'd be able to actually tolerate me and my smartassery."
Ratchet laughs as well. "You know, the more I hear about how much of a smartass she was back to you, the more I like her."
"Wow. My own son, supporting abuse against his father." He says in a dramatically pained tone. "For shame."
Ratchet chuckles again. "Well, what kind of music did she like, then?"
"You know, dumb pop stuff like… this." He says, tapping on the speaker's display before it fades away and begins playing what is distinctly pop music that definitely sounded like it'd fit in the same genre as Courtney Gears.
And as Ratchet listens to it, Kaden resumes chopping up vegetables for their dinner, but not before taking another glance at the 'Now playing:' prompt on the speaker and exhaling a long breath.
"Wait, this came out over two decades ago? I remember Marie squealing in excitement when this album first came out." He says, shaking his head. "Damn, I'm getting old."
Ratchet, however, begins nodding his head to the beat of the music and the catchy chorus. "You know what… I actually like this!" Ratchet says with a smile. "I don't get what you're talking about, I think mom knew what she was talking about when she said she liked this stuff."
Kaden scoffs as he picks up the cutting board full of vegetables and walks over to the stove to dump them into a pot. "Seriously, after all of this talk about how happy I am to have you back in my life, and it looks like I need to disown you. Why couldn't her height be the only thing you inherited from her, huh?" He asks with a smug smirk, looking back over to him.
"Hey, screw you! I think it sounds good!" Ratchet defends himself, haughtily crossing his arms as Kaden chuckles.
And as cheesy pop music continues playing through the kitchen, Clank silently watches on from his seat at the island, watching Kaden and Ratchet bicker over whether or not it (and Ratchet and his mother's taste) sucked, he simply smiles, once again happy for the both of them and the fact that they had managed to find each other after all of these years.
And even though Kaden was fervently stubborn on the fact that he absolutely hated this kind of music and are glad that culture's moved on past it, Clank didn't fail to notice how odd it was that he just so happened to have this 'terrible music' saved onto his speaker and ready to go at a moment's notice.