Welp, seems like I broke my hot streak after all. Sorry about that, got a little busy with other things, but hey, at least it was only a couple weeks instead of an entire month like a few other chapters took, right?
"So, the power relay sends the charge to both the dimensional matrix converter and the display module, and all of that is hooked up to… the phase splitter?" Ratchet asks Kaden uncertainly, raising an eyebrow as they walk through the Center's halls with Clank on his back.
"Yep, that's right." Kaden confirms with a smile and a nod.
"Yes!" He congratulates himself with a small fist pump, making Kaden chuckle.
"You seem to be a pretty quick learner, Ratchet." He says, placing a hand on his shoulder. "And it's clear that you've got a knack for working on things, too. With a little more practice and experience, I don't doubt you could end up as great an engineer as myself someday."
"You think so?"
"I know so." He assures him. "And I wasn't kidding earlier when I said you should be called a Keeper of the Dimensionator, either. It sounds like you've gone through hell and back to keep that thing safe over in the other dimension, running all over the galaxy, yanking it right out of Tachyon's claws yourself, and doing everything you can to keep it in the right hands, all to keep the rest of us safe. I'm proud of you." He tells him, giving his shoulder a small squeeze as he flashes him a warm smile.
Ratchet lights up with happiness as he hears that, returning a wide grin before Kaden takes his hand off his shoulder as they reach the elevators, where he presses a button to call for one.
"I… Thanks, dad." He says earnestly. "It… really means a lot to me, hearing you say that."
"And I'm flattered to hear that it does." Kaden replies kindly. "But… you know, I think there's something else that I can do for you, now that I think about it."
"Really? What is it?" Ratchet asks with a curious look before they hear a ding, the doors in front of them opening to present an empty elevator, to which they both walk in.
"Well…" He says, pressing a button for the ground floor, "I was thinking that it'd be a good idea if I ask the Council to officially designate you as a Keeper of the Dimensionator, too." He tells him with a smile as the elevator begins to rise.
"Wait… seriously?" Ratchet asks in stunned disbelief.
"Definitely. Like I said, you've more than earned it, since the whole job of the Keeper is to protect it from getting misused or stolen by anyone who wants to cause destruction in one way or another. You've obviously got the skills to uphold that duty, and once I teach you a bit more about how it works, you'll have the knowledge and know-how to back it up, too. And, well, it's also just the simple fact that there are going to be two Dimensionators around now, so it only makes sense that there should be two Keepers to protect them, too. And I can't think of anyone more perfect for the job than you, Ratchet." He says, returning a hand to his shoulder once more with pride in his eyes. "Would that be something you'd be interested in?"
"I-I… That's… Erm, yeah!" Ratchet answers with an eager nod and beaming smile. "That'd be awesome!"
"I'm glad to hear it." Kaden replies with a small chuckle, slightly amused but more than happy at his clear excitement at the notion. "You're probably going to have to wait until next week before it's set in stone, though, since I'll have to bring it up at the next Council meeting in an official capacity. They will have to take a vote and decide if you can be trusted with such an important job in the first place, of course, but, come on. They watched you risk your life in order to pry it out of that dirty Cragmite's hands for themselves. The only discussion they're going to have is deciding on who gets the honor to officially declare you as a Keeper. But until then, congratulations on your unofficial promotion, Ratchet."
He then moves over to take him into a strong side-hug, giving him a wide smile with caring adoration in his eyes, which filled Ratchet with such a strong feeling of joy that he almost didn't notice the elevator ding once more as the doors opened, only realizing they reached their floor once Kaden removed his arm from around him to leave the elevator, Ratchet following shortly behind after he snaps out of his small daze.
"I-I, erm, thanks, dad!" He finally tells him, catching up to walk beside him once more. "I'll try not to let you down, then!"
"Don't worry, it'll have to take a hell of a lot for you to even come close to letting me down." He responds amusedly. "If what you've already accomplished is anything to go by, then I know you'll be a great Keeper. So, just promise me you'll keep doing what you do best, and protect that thing like you protect the rest of the galaxy, alright?"
"Loud and clear." He replies with a nod, which Kaden returns with a firm pat of his shoulder along with a nod of his own, leaving Ratchet filled with this invigorating feeling of holding his father's pride and admiration as they make their way through the lobby, and out the doors towards Lyra. And before long, they find themselves flying through the darkening sky, enjoying the blissful view of the sun setting over the busy skyline of the city.
"Alright, time for dinner!" Ratchet hears Kaden call from his room upstairs, where he was indulging himself to more of those books about Lombax engineering, gaining a renewed interest after everything he learned firsthand from his father today, and also the fact that he'd have good reason if he was going to be a Keeper.
"Coming!" Ratchet calls out as he dog-ears the page he's on before placing it back down onto the cot as he stands up, making his way to the door along with Clank, getting off the chair at the desk as he too puts down a book of his own.
As Ratchet makes his way down the stairs, a heavenly aroma begins to flow into his nostrils, already making his stomach rumble as they get closer to the kitchen. Kaden promised that he'd prepare something a little special tonight to mark the occasion of reuniting with Angela again, and also to give him a little more insight into traditional Lombax cuisine. He wanted it to be a bit of a surprise, however, which is why he had Ratchet go up in his room as he prepared it, much to his curiosity, and currently, his rousing appetite.
"Man, whatever he's made smells good." Ratchet comments to Clank.
"I'll have to take your word for that, given that I lack olfactory sensors." He responds. "But I admit I'm curious as to what your people's food entails."
"Same here, but if it's anything like that stew he made the other night, I bet it's going to be tasty."
Reaching the living room, they promptly turn the corner and enter the kitchen, where they find Kaden standing in front of the island, finishing up with setting the dishware, his back turned to them, obscuring whatever he prepared.
"So, what'd you make?" Ratchet asks, making Kaden turn his around, where he smiles upon seeing them.
"Ah, something I bet you're gonna love." He answers, turning around while proudly crossing his arms. "It's a classic Lombax dish, and it's a good recipe of your mother's that I managed to get down pretty well, too. I give you, boiled Fastoon Fulgra beetles!"
He then moves out the way while holding his arms out to the table, where two large, brown steaming beetles rest on plates, with some kind of sauce on the side in small dishes of their own, flanked with glasses of water.
"Wait, what?" Ratchet says, staring at the beetles in confusion. "We're… eating bugs for dinner?"
"Well, if you wanna be technical about it, yeah." Kaden replies with a shrug and a smile.
"Are you pulling my leg right now? Are you sure that this is something Lombaxes eat?" He asks in disbelief.
"Not all the time, it's mostly just for special occasions. It's a delicacy." Kaden answers pointedly as he walks over and takes a seat before motioning to the chair opposite him. "Go ahead, dig in."
"You guys seriously consider giant beetles a delicacy?" He repeats incredulously.
"Perhaps you should taste it first before you so harshly begin to judge it as you are doing now." Clank advises from beside him.
"Yeah, Ratchet, don't knock it 'til you try it." Kaden agrees with a smirk. "Come on, you'll see what I mean once you taste it."
"I… Well…"
After a moment of being subject to a questioning look by both Clank and his father, he only sighs, resigning himself to eating a giant bug as he walks over to his own seat, with Clank taking the one next to him, where he pleasantly finds that Kaden also decided to prepare a cup of fine oil for him.
However, Ratchet simply sits there and stares at the steaming arthropod, finding all its little legs sticking into the air and its big compound eyes and little bits of mandibles for a mouth more than a little off-putting for his appetite.
But as he's debating in his mind about whether or not to eat the thing, he suddenly hears a crack from across the island, and looks up to find Kaden stabbing into the middle of the beetle's underbelly, and twisting it a bit before he peels away the exoskeleton to get at the white meat, where he then uses a fork to dig out a chunk before dipping it into the sauce beside his plate, and finally putting it into his mouth where he chews it with a satisfied hum.
"Oh, man, it's been a minute since I've had Fulgra." He comments contentedly. "I almost forgot how good it is."
And as he continues to quite literally dig into the beetle, excavating its meat out of its conveniently bowl-shaped exoskeleton, Ratchet looks back to his own, and with a resigned shrug, decides to go ahead and begin to eat his, using a knife to crack it open just as his father did. He grabs a small piece of the meat with his fork, and after taking a moment to inspect it, unable to deny that it did smell good despite its appearance, dips it into his own sauce before reluctantly placing it into his mouth.
But as he grinds the dubious-looking foodstuff with his teeth, his eyes suddenly widen, with rich flavor bursting with every increasingly enthusiastic chew, beginning to savor every bit of it before he swallows it down, leaving him with a slightly tangy aftertaste, likely from the sauce.
"So?" Kaden asks, pausing in his own meal as he looks back at him with an amused smile.
"Wow…" Ratchet replies, staring at the beetle before him with disbelief. "This is good!" He says as he eagerly goes in for another bite, prompting a chuckle from Kaden.
"Good to know that I can still cook that stuff decently, then." He replies before returning to eat his own Fulgra.
"I thought this stuff would taste just as bad as that Citricerbic juice you had me try," Ratchet states with a full mouth. "But this is better than most of the food they serve at those presidential parties that Qwark likes to throw!"
"I didn't say it was a delicacy for nothing, after all." He points out. "Apparently, back in our people's primitive days, they'd have this stuff all the time since Fastoon was littered with Fulgra beetles, but when we started getting more advanced, building cities, expanding outwards, they started to become a lot less common, especially once we figured out how to really cook them. Before long, they became endangered enough to warrant them being insanely expensive, being the kind of thing you have once a year, if that, or on really special occasions, like weddings. I know that's what your mother and I had at ours." He explains with a fond smile.
"Wait, seriously?" Ratchet asks, stopping in his eating to look at the meal before them in astonishment. "Isn't this… a bit too fancy for a simple dinner if they're that rare, then?"
"Oh, not at all. When we moved over to this Fastoon, Fulgra beetles were as abundant as they were before we started to wipe them out back in the other dimension, and since we learned from our history's mistake of almost rendering them extinct, we knew better how to support their population this time around. And thanks to that, now you can grab this stuff off the shelf at the store for only an extra few bolts more than usual, and you can still see a bunch of them running around out in the desert, too." He says, broadly gesturing an arm outside before turning his attention back to Ratchet with a smile. "And besides, like I said, this is a special occasion! We just found out that your cousin is alive and well, along with your friend's dad, and that's something worth celebrating!"
Ratchet, however, sucks in a breath as he returns an odd look. "Yeah… I still think it's really weird to refer to Angela as my cousin, dad."
"Why? Is it because of the whole 'you two almost dated' thing?" He asks nonchalantly before taking another bite of his beetle.
"Yeah, that's the big one." He replies dryly. "But we didn't 'almost date', alright?"
"I'll say." Clank comments beside him, sipping from his glass of oil. "I highly doubt that you would have been able to court Angela if you actually put your mind to it. It is a miracle you managed to impress Sasha with your nonexistent flirting skills in the first place."
"Hey Clank, here's an idea; How about we try to go a few hours today without you making fun of my dating skills?" Ratchet snarks back. "What do you think about that?"
"I think that it would be harder if not for the fact you have made it incredibly easy for me to make those comments."
And as Clank chuckles before taking another sip of his oil, Ratchet scoffs with a roll of his eyes before Kaden speaks up again, amused by their exchange.
"Well, whatever the case, I'm sure you'll get used to it now that we're going to be seeing her around now. Although, it is a bit of a shame that we couldn't invite her over for dinner tonight, it would've been nice to catch up with her a bit more." He says, taking a quick swig of his water. "But, I can't say I blame her. She and Max have a big day ahead of them tomorrow, after all, getting him ready to return back to your dimension. I'm happy that we'll be able to reunite him with his daughter, though." He finishes gladly. "I know firsthand what it feels like to finally get your child back after so long, after all."
Ratchet, however, begins to slow down in his meal as he says that, as the idea of returning him home back to the other dimension brought the promise he made to Clank back to the forefront of his mind, which was beginning to make the beetle in his stomach rest not so well.
"Yeah…" He distantly replies, finishing his current bite with a troubled swallow. "Erm, what exactly is the plan for tomorrow, then?"
"What do you mean?" He asks bemusedly, not seeming to notice his sudden unease as he takes another bite. "It's not like we have to go through a bunch of procedures or anything, if that's what you're thinking. He's going to show up to the lab, we open up a portal for him, and we bring him back home, and then we're done. Can't take anymore than five minutes, which is good, because that leaves us with plenty of time for us to finish building the rest of the Dimensionator, and to have me give you some more lessons to help you become a Keeper, too. That sounds fun, right?" He says with a smile.
Ratchet, however, doesn't respond, instead beginning to anxiously poke at the beetle in front of him with his fork, wearing a conflicting look upon his features. Neither Kaden nor Clank fail to notice his sudden silence, as they look to him with slight worry.
"Erm, Ratchet?" Kaden asks. "Are you okay?"
Ratchet looks back up at him from his meal, biting his lip slightly, but after a moment, hangs his head with a deep sigh. "I… I have something that I need to tell you, dad." He states hesitantly, pushing his plate away from him so he can rest his crossed arms on the island before him.
Before Kaden could ask him what he means, getting a bad feeling about his change of attitude, Clank speaks up beside Ratchet, resting a hand on his arm. "Is this about your promise, Ratchet?" He asks gently.
"Yeah…" He replies with a solemn nod.
"I can say it if you don't want to, you know. It's no problem."
He shakes his head. "No, I already said that I would, Clank. I can do this." He states a little more firmly before turning his head to give him a small smile. "But, thanks, pal. I appreciate the support."
"What are you two talking about?" Kaden asks with concern, glancing between the two of them apprehensively. "What exactly are you trying to tell me?"
"It's just that… well…" He takes a deep breath. "I… have to go back home."
Kaden furrows his brows. "…What do you mean by that, exactly?" He asks with some slight worry.
He sighs. "I have to go back home, in my other dimension." He explains, rubbing the back of his head. "You see, even though we're officially retired from the hero business now, it doesn't mean that we can just sit by if someone tries to come along and blow up the galaxy, we still have to step in if we're really needed, after all. But the thing is… we don't know if that's what's happening back home right now, since we haven't been able to even contact them from another dimension. And not only that, but we didn't tell anybody where we were going when we decided to come here in the first place either, so there's a chance that people think we've just vanished. We have to go back and make sure that we actually can leave our dimension without freaking everybody out." He says, thumbing to himself and Clank before giving another sigh, looking down. "So, well… We're going to have to join Max tomorrow, and leave with him."
Kaden simply stares at him, glancing between him and Clank with worry written all over his features before he raises a hand.
"You're not saying that you're leaving for good, though, right?" He asks with some fear. "You are going to be able to come back, right?"
"Oh, yes! Absolutely!" Ratchet quickly and fervently assures him, raising his own hands. "We are coming back, don't worry! In fact, that's the entire reason we're doing this in the first place, so that we can spend as much as we want back here without worrying about people thinking we're dead or having another psycho try to take over the galaxy again!"
He raises an eyebrow. "So… you're not leaving forever, then? You're just having a quick check-in back to your home?" He clarifies, in a much calmer, less panicked tone as well.
"Yes, exactly." Ratchet confirms. "Ideally, it should just be a quick in-and-out. Ideally."
"I… see…" Kaden mutters, nodding his head as he digests this information, with Ratchet more than a little worried about how he'd respond, having played far too many scenarios in his head about this very thing, and dreading which one of them would actually come true, and hoping that he didn't shatter his heart too much and—
"Well, I guess that means I'll have to hold off on teaching you about the Dimensionator for later, then." Kaden says with a shrug before he nonchalantly picks up another chunk of beetle with his fork. "You should've just said that from the get-go, though, you damn near gave me a heart attack when you two were started acting all shady, talking to each other like you were about to tell me that the world was ending." He says with a small chuckle, pointing to either of them with his fork before dipping the meat into his sauce and eating it.
Ratchet stares at him in disbelief. "Wait… that's it?" He asks. "You're… not mad or sad or anything like that?"
"What? Of course not!" Kaden replies with a full mouth and a shake of his head before he swallows. "Why would you think that?"
"Well, because I thought you'd be worried about losing me again after finally getting me back after all these years." He answers, dumbstruck by his casual attitude. "I thought you, I don't know, expected me to live here with you forever!"
"Well… I will admit that's what I was expecting when we first met, to be honest." He replies. "I mean, I figured that's why you first came here to this dimension, so you could live with the rest of your species for good, and with finding me, your father, who you apparently thought was dead this whole time, it'd really seal the deal, too. But then, as I started to get to know you better, I started hearing all about your life as a hero, standing up to bad guys, fighting for the good of the people, and doing your best at protecting the galaxy from danger—which, by the sound of it, you do a damn good job at. And then I started hearing about some of the friends you've made, along with some of your adventures, and all the good memories, and I started seeing just what kind of life you've established for yourself back home. And to say that it's a fulfilling one is putting it lightly, and as a father, that is all I could ever hope for my child, and letting you have the chance to live out life as fully as you did was the entire reason I hid you on Veldin in the first place." He says warmly, wearing an absolutely beaming grin.
"And, also as a father, the last thing that I ever want to do is rip you away from all of that for something as selfish as just wanting to spend more time with you. Especially when you've got entire galaxies looking up to you as their hero, too. So, truthfully speaking, I was honestly expecting you to go back home sometime. The only reason I was so surprised just now is the fact that you were acting so shifty about it that I thought you were about to tell me it was going to be a permanent thing." He says with a small laugh. "Not that I'd stop you, obviously, but I can't help but want to spend a little more time with the son I never got to meet for the last two decades."
Although Ratchet was still feeling quite caught off-guard by how readily his father accepted this news, he was flush with relief, but also happiness upon seeing and hearing the genuine way he carried his love for him through his words and adoring smile that he was giving him now.
"Thanks, dad." He says contentedly, returning a smile of his own. "I'm glad you understand."
"See, what did I tell you?" Clank pleasantly tells Ratchet. "You were worrying over nothing this whole time."
Ratchet's smile falters as he turns to shoot him an unimpressed look. "Hey, it's not like I was being irrational when I said I was afraid to tell him, you even said so yourself, pal."
He shrugs. "Well, whatever the case, I'm still proud of you for doing it, Ratchet, I know it wasn't easy for you. And I must also confess that I am thankful you took the news so well, Kaden." He says, nodding over to him.
"What did you two think I'd do? Break your Dimensionator so you can never go back home and I can keep you all to myself or something?" Kaden asks playfully. "Yeah, don't worry. Even though I have to admit that it does sting just a little bit in knowing you can't just up and live here for good, I also know that you have your own life in the other dimension, and it's not in my place to keep you from that. And besides, with the ban finally gone, we'll be able to actually visit each other in our dimensions with no problem at all." He tells them with a smile.
"Well… I doubt you'd be able to visit mine very often if Mags is going to be hogging your Dimensionator to explore the multiverse again, like he started ranting about earlier." Ratchet replies amusedly, now beginning to resume eating his own beetle now that the gigantic weight on his chest that's been stifling his appetite has been lifted.
"Nah, even if he didn't want to give it back for some reason, I'm still the Keeper, so he has to listen to me when I say I need it, even if it's for something as small as a quick visit to my son." He responds with a wave of his hand. "He might whine about it, sure, but there's not a thing he could do." He states with a smirk.
Ratchet chuckles as he finishes his current bite. "Well, I don't think you'll have to worry about that anytime soon, since I don't think our little trip tomorrow will last that long. We can just pop in, drop Max off as Tal's, let her know where me and Clank are, and we'll be back here in no time flat."
"Unless people are already panicking about our sudden disappearance, that is." Clank promptly points out. "Or if someone like Nefarious is trying to conquer the galaxy again, or—"
"Or none of that is happening, because we are retired in a place where people don't visit us often, and the Galactic Rangers and the PDF have got things under control in the galaxies like they have for the past, like, year." He interjects. "You don't always have to be a downer, Clank."
"I am merely suggesting possible scenarios that are waiting for us back home so that we may mentally prepare ourselves for such cases." He pointedly retorts. "It's called 'thinking ahead'; which is something I encourage you to do more of, as well."
"Ha ha, very funny, pal." Ratchet replies dryly as he rolls his eyes. "But I don't think I need it. I mean, I've already made it this far without having to do that, right?"
"That's because you have had me doing it for you this whole time."
"Except for the time you were missing, and I still did just fine on my own." He points out.
Clank tilts his head. "Didn't you tell me that you and Talwyn got yourselves captured by space pirates, though?"
"And we got away without a scratch!" He proudly clarifies. "It's called 'improvising', Clank, and it's something I encourage you to do more of." He says smugly as he stabs his fork into his beetle before taking another bite.
"Duly noted." Clank replies, taking another swig of his cup of oil.
"You know…" Kaden speaks up, wearing a thoughtful look, as he rests his hand on his chin. "I just thought of a bit of an idea."
Both Ratchet and Clank return a curious look in the midst of their meals. "Erm, what is it, then?" Ratchet asks.
"Well… I figured that if you two are going back to your own dimension tomorrow, I was wondering if I could maybe, you know… join you." He suggests with a small shrug and a smile.
"Join us?" He repeats in surprise.
"Yeah! I want to see what you've been up to in the other dimension for myself, and maybe meeting some of your friends, as well. And, well, like I said, I do want to thank your friend Talwyn for everything she's done to help you understand your culture and language in my place, and I figure this is the perfect opportunity for it since we have to drop Max off to see her anyway." He explains. "That is, I mean, if it's alright with you, of course."
"I—erm, yeah, of course!" Ratchet replies with an enthusiastic grin. "I think it'll be fun!"
"I too believe that is a wonderful idea, Kaden." Clank agrees with a nod. "We would love for you to join our company."
"I'm glad to hear it." He responds with a beaming smile. "I've gotta say that I'm pretty excited at the idea, I can't wait to see what your home is like."
"Oh, uh, it's not that much, honestly." Ratchet says with a small shrug and a smile. "Just a garage on Veldin, this place is probably nicer than that." He says as he gestures to the house around them.
"You could be living in a cardboard box for all I care, it doesn't change the fact that it'd be my son's home that he worked hard for." Kaden assures him. "And I'm not just talking about whatever garage you live in when I say your home, I mean everything about your home. Your friends, your work, all of it. I've had to spend the last twenty years not knowing a thing about any of that, only being able to imagine it, but to finally see it for myself would mean the world to me."
"Well, I just hope that I live up to the hype, then." He replies with a chuckle. "But, erm, how long are you going to stay there, exactly? I mean, not that I don't want you there for a while or anything, but I don't really, well, have a place for you to stay if you do spend some time there." He says with an awkward smile. "Except, like, a couch, I guess."
"That's not true, he can stay in our apartment in Metropolis." Clank offers.
"But that's all the way on Kerwan, it'd be super inconvenient to have to take a flight just to meet up again."
"Wait, I thought you just said you lived on Veldin?" Kaden asks, tilting his head.
"Oh, I do, but I also have an apartment on Kerwan I got as, like, a 'thanks for saving the galaxy' gift from the city." Ratchet explains. "I just don't live there anymore, got tired of all the hustle and bustle of the city. I like good ol' empty Veldin better. It's still where I grew up, after all, I've got a bit of a soft spot for it."
"Oh." He responds plainly. "Well… I wouldn't worry about it, anyway, I think we'll have to keep my visit down to just the day, I've still got a lot of work with Mags to do in order to get the Interdimensional Division up and running back in proper order again. But I'd say that's plenty of time to get a good taste, right?"
"Yeah, I mean, it's not like I haven't had crazier things happen to me in just one day, after all, like finally meeting the Lombaxes and finding out my dad hasn't been dead this entire time, just to name one." He replies with a grin. "So… is that the plan for tomorrow then? We all meet up in your lab so we can head back home with Max, showing you around before we drop you back off here?"
"Sounds solid to me, but it also sounds like a big day, too, so I think we ought to rest up good tonight, starting off with you going ahead and finishing up your meal there." He says, pointing to Ratchet's beetle with his fork. "You've gotta eat Fulgra before it gets cold, you know, it's filled with toxins that activate once it cools down enough to stop steaming." He states as he casually goes to take another bite of his.
"Wait, what? Seriously?!" Ratchet says in surprise, staring at his Fulgra with worry once again. "Why do you guys even eat this stuff, then?!"
"Because I'm just kidding, it's totally fine." Kaden says with a wink and a smirk before he utters a small laugh. "It will never not be funny messing with you."
Ratchet groans with a roll of his eyes before he picks up his fork again to stab it into the meat. "You know, at this point, I'm going to have to start taking everything you tell me about Lombaxes with a grain of salt with how much you lie about stuff for the fun of it." He grumbles before placing it in his mouth with a pout.
"Well… I can't say I'm completely lying about the toxin thing." Kaden replies with a shrug. "Fulgra beetles do have a poison gland that spoils the meat if you don't take it out right, and it takes some practice to do that. In fact, I remember the first time your mom made her own Fulgra, we spent the entire day afterward puking our guts out because she didn't cut it out right. I never did let her hear the end of it for a good week after that." He recalls, reminiscing upon the memory as he stares off with a warm smile. "But she got a hell of a lot better at it. Her Fulgra is easily one of my favorite foods of all the time, but I still can't get that recipe down. It's close, I'll admit, but not quite." He says, poking at his own Fulgra with a small sigh.
He glances back up to Ratchet, only to find him very slowly chewing his bite, visibly afraid to swallow it as he glances between him and his beetle with a worried look in his eye.
"Hey, I double-checked that I cut that gland out correctly, alright?" Kaden tells him firmly, pointing at him with his fork. "Trust me, I've already gone through Fulgra poisoning once, and when you do, you make damn sure that doesn't happen again, so go ahead and swallow. I promise you're not going to get sick."
Ratchet simply looks back at him with a slightly incredulous gaze for a few moments, but after one more glance to his meal, does as he says and swallows down his bite.
"Why is Lombax food so weird?" He comments. "I don't have to worried about getting poisoned whenever I go to Galaxy Burger, you know."
"Oh, please, if anything, you're more likely to get poisoned by them than anything half-decently made by Lombaxes with all the crap they pump into those burgers." Kaden scoffs. "And you better not be badmouthing my cooking either, you're in position to talk after those pancakes you made this morning!"
"Hey, I'm not badmouthing it, it tastes great, I swear!" He hastily defends himself. "But, I mean, between this and that Citricerbic juice you had me try, you can't deny that your guys' food is a bit weird."
"It's not that weird, calm down." Kaden says with a roll of his eyes. "I mean, you've eaten over half of yours by now, so if anything, that makes you a weirdo for liking it by that logic." He retorts with a smirk.
Ratchet opens his mouth with a raised finger to protest that statement, but instead, he says nothing, and with a small sigh of defeat, lowers his finger. "Alright, fair point."
"Good." He returns smugly. "Now go ahead and finish the rest of your meal, weirdo, I want to get up a little early tomorrow so we can spend more time in the other dimension together."
And even though Ratchet scoffs at his little jab, he does as he says, but in only a matter of minutes, he's back up in jovial spirits as the three of them return to playfully bantering with each other, having a great time together as the meat in their beetles and the oil in Clank's cup gradually diminish.
And before long, exchange a good night before they retire to their bedrooms, both of them finding it a little more difficult to sleep from being excited about the prospects of what tomorrow will bring, but not enough that they each eventually succumb to their slumber.
You know, it's kind of unfortunate that April Fool's Day just so conveniently landed on the same day I usually update this fic. Had I been less busy, I absolutely would've made a fake chapter where I just kill Kaden in front of Ratchet, written seriously enough that it's not an obvious joke. But, then again, if I did do that, I'd obviously have to have the real chapter all prepped and ready to publish the next day to not make people completely freak out, so I'd have to write two entire chapters for it to work, which is unfortunately a little too much work.
But hey, who knows, maybe I'll save something like that for next year?
But, anyway, I've gotta say that I'm getting pretty excited for this next bit, because if all goes according to my hardly-formulated plan that is literally just some major plot points in my head, this will be the last 'act', shall we say, of this story, and I've thought of a few juicy things that I plan to happen. And with any luck, that excitement will fuel me to swiftly crank out the chapters for the last stretch of this fic, which will finally allow me to work on some other projects I have in mind for this AU. Here's hoping!