There he was, sitting alone at the kitchen table.
Much time had passed since Ratchet had brought down a gangster empire. People who worked with him died, but hopefully it all paid off in the end. Two months have passed since then, and still he, Clank lived in his apartment in Megapolis.
Not alone, of course.
Rivet and Kit also lived with the two of them. The bond of the lombaxes had grown even stronger during their last two adventures. He loved the rebel, and she loved the hero. Ratchet couldn't have had it better, he told his best friend. For him, there was nothing better than sharing the home with the woman you love. This time, however, he was alone.
Rivet already knew the place very well, so she decided to do some training in the afternoon. It was a routine that the white lombax had always pulled off at the base with homemade exercise equipment since her days as a rebel. When she found out that there was a gym in town for that purpose, she didn't say no. Both of them also liked to go there together, because even the hero had to keep in shape. Evil could attack at any time. But Ratchet didn't feel like it today. Rather, he wanted to eat something together with her tonight, which he had actually already prepared an hour ago. This time the Lombax had cooked himself, because he wanted to make her a surprise. Clank always said that the orange one was not the best cook, but not the worst either. Ratchet had already fixed a plate for himself, but he didn't want to touch it until his girlfriend came back, who had been gone for almost two hours.
"...Maybe a little TV will distract me."
Then the hero got up and walked to the couch. The holo-TV was activated immediately and Ratchet flipped through the channels. However, on the whole, there were a lot of reruns, including Secret Agent Clank 6, or talk shows that he and Rivet used to make fun of. Ratchet continued to browse through shows that didn't spark any interest and then he was on the news channel. The announcer at his table had just finished one segment before the next one was introduced.
"The robot extremist group Heavy Vikings has been spotted in the junkyard. For several months these dangerous robots have been trying to advocate for new rights for their people. Their leader, Kettil, describes himself and his crew as the good guys in history, though the activists' actions do not support this. Several injured aliens, burned down buildings and violent clashes with the galactic rangers. Several bots joined these away, and major uprisings occurred on many planets. The rangers have already said it: stay away from these five machines. Because what they cause can't be called peaceful intent on more rights...but violence...and now back to Myth-Hunt! In today's episode: the stranded Wereraptor on Barlow!
Ratchet turned the Holo-TV off. These terrorists have been worrying him for a while. So far they hadn't appeared on Megalopolis, but if really good robots were driven by these maniacs to fall into violent strikes or acts of violence, then this troop was a great danger. However, he did not focus entirely on that. Rivet is still not back. Slowly he was getting worried, even though she could actually take care of herself, however it is an instinct of his to worry about others when they are long gone or in trouble. The lombax stood up again, took out two glasses and something to drink. He had not yet prepared that and filled his glass with the sweet juice. The pasta he had prepared was only slightly warm by now, but still eatable in his eyes. If only his rebel would show up now, then he could at least spend the rest of the evening with her before going to sleep.
"I'm back!"
The hiss of the automatic door was heard. She pocketed the key card again and stepped into the apartment with a bag around her steel prosthesis. Ratchet's ears twitched upward briefly as he heard Rivet's voice and was immediately on his feet. "Hey," he came up gently, took her in his arms and kissed Rivet softly on the mouth, who of course returned the kiss, "Hey, hotshot."
"What took you so long today," he took the bag from her and set it aside, "I made dinner almost two hours ago." "Did you? Oh yeah, I'm starving. I wanted to work out a little longer today, too bad you didn't want to come," the white lombax strode to the chair. Ratchet was not at all pleased with the answer. She didn't even apologize for being gone for so long. But the orange one didn't care, it was half as bad. More important now was to serve her something, so he strode to her table and filled her plate with dinner.
"Oh...pasta, did Clank make it?"
Rivet's tone sounded rather disappointed at the sight. The two of them had the dish often, thinking rather after this training to get something more solid. "N...No, I made those," Ratchet said unsuspectingly as his girlfriend raised her fork, "You? Well, is it good because we both know you're not exactly a chef, hehe." What for the rebel was an attempt to pass off a joke was for her boyfriend not funny at all, because Rivet was not even finished, "Not very warm, too."
"Well it would have stayed well if you hadn't been in that stupid gym for two hours," annoyed he poked a noodle and took it in his mouth. Rivet's brow twitched up at the choice of words before she used the fork as well, "Okay, take it easy. Thanks, I appreciate it Ratchet. Hope you didn't forget to add flavor." Actually, she had hoped the joke would bring a grin to the corner of his mouth, but that only made him grumble slightly. Rivet finally took some pasta and ate comfortably from the mild pasta that her boyfriend had prepared. Until then, however, her face contorted.
"Hmm...more vinegar wouldn't have hurt."
Ratchet violently threw the fork onto the plate. Rivet's ears shot up briefly at the sound of the bang, as she then watched the orange one get up angrily and reach into his pants pocket. He shrugged out a couple of bolts and pounded them on the table, "You know what...HERE! Order something, or whatever!"
"Oh come on, do you really get mad about something like that...", but then the male lombax strode to the balcony door, yanked it open and closed it right when he was outside. Rivet snorted for a moment before slamming both hands against her head. She over did it. She hadn't expected the orange one to not be in this mood today for her little teasings, which they usually did together for fun. "Oh dammit," she pushed the bolts away and picked up the plate. First she wanted to finish the pasta before she made her way to the balcony door.
Ratchet stood there staring into the darkness. The night sky had fallen and it was very cold. The season had now entered the colder phase again, but the hero wasn't interested in that right now and just continued to stare into space. Arms folded, he stood stiffly like a statue and did not move, before his ears heard the opening of the door. Rivet hesitated for a moment before exhaling in defeat, "Hey...I'm sorry about earlier." No reply came out of Ratchet's mouth before she then lightly nudged the plate she carried in her prosthetic against his back, drawing his gaze. "Here...it was delicious," his love tried to make him smile again, which had worked this time.
"I'm sorry too...I overreacted," he approached Rivet and took her in his arms, "I hate it when we fight over stuff like this." "Me too," they both held each other in the embrace for a long time before the orange Lombax then placed another kiss on the white one, "I love you."
"I love you," replied his girlfriend, to which she twitched her nose, "But I'm sure you'll love me more once I take a shower."
"Yes, stinky. Certainly," both laughed heartily, before they went back into the apartment. Inside, however, they were met by stares from Clank and Kit, who stepped out of the silver one's room. "Oh...hey, pal. Got your puzzle done?", Ratchet scratched the back of his head as his best friend's green optics literally pierced him. Rivet, on the other hand, managed to grab some new clothes and then run to the bathroom, "Be right there!"
"No problem, honey," the hero strode to the table and cleaned it up. Kit decided to go back into the room, while Clank was still standing in front of the orange lombax, staring at him with a worried look.
"Ratchet...is everything alright?" the silver robot came a little closer, only to look into the hero's green eyes, "Uh, Yes of course, Clank...hehe, what should be"
"I heard something loud hit the table," Clank had listened carefully. The fork had not been soundless, which then brought the lombax scratching his hand on the back of his head "Oh, uh...I dropped the fork. Don't worry about it, everything's fine." Ratchet put the last of the dirty dishes in the dishwasher before he strode to his bedroom, yawning, "I'm tired, Clank. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"...Yeah, see you tomorrow," the silver bot waved at the taller one and then retreated back to his room as well. There he found the yellow one sitting on the floor in front of the puzzle they both decided to build today and looking very glum. Finally she noticed Clank's presence and pointed her blue eyes at the silver one.
"...This is the third time this week."
"Yes," the two bots cleaned up the pieces together, "First it was because of the clothes, and now because of something so ridiculous."
"And if it gets worse," Kit had pulled a very worried expression on her mechanical face, almost making the silver one's circuits freeze. "Kit...", gently he put his mechanical hand on her shoulder, "This kind of thing happens a lot in relationships...I've seen it happen, as you know Rivet wasn't Ratchet's first girlfriend. It happens from time to time...but..." Now Clank was also very concerned about the situation, "...should it get worse we both have to try to do something about it."
"Yes, you're right," the yellow one had finally calmed down a bit. Because she knew that if things got drastic, then she could rely on Clank and he could rely on her. So then both decided to go into rest mode so that tomorrow you would be back at full strength.
Everyone in this apartment needed some sleep now.
Ratchet and Rivet had changed into their sleeping clothes in the meantime. Each had only something light on, which would feel even softer and more comfortable thanks to the blanket. And of course they had each other, because even as the hero lay down his girlfriend came up to him and snuggled up to him with her left arm, which was still healed. "I'm sorry again about earlier," the rebel whispered into his fur, whereupon he wrapped his arm around her back, "I guess I had extra wishes again and made you wait..."
"Hey...I overreacted too. It's partly my fault too," he kissed her forehead gently before they both got comfortable and sank into the land of dreams together.
"So...can we order something tomorrow," there was a short silence as then they both laughed out loud and held each other tighter, "Yeah let's see." And finally the hero and his rebel closed their eyes.
