Weekly Oneshot #20: Living Arrangements

"Heh...heh...heh..." Ratchet breathed tiredly as he scrubbed the underside of the yellow taxi. A wooden board with wheels on it dug into his back and kept him off balance and his legs were getting very tired from standing up and his knees were getting bruised because they kept hitting the ship with every sudden movement. Sweat stained his orange fur and dripped down onto the dry and cracked ground of Veldin. The final rays of sun were disappearing as the sunset ended, and the array of diamond stars were appearing one by one in the black, blue and purple sky. It was another late night, tonight. A long line of vehicles in need of proton scrubs had eaten up his entire evening, and most likely his entire day tomorrow. Ratchet sighed and wiped his forehead. This was one of the reasons that he wanted to run off and become a Galactic Ranger, because working as a mechanic wasn't exactly the best job in the universe. However, he did promise Grim that he would return and work for him, so he couldn't really complain at the moment. Besides, it wasn't as bad as it used to be. There was something here at the garage that he didn't have before.

"AGH!" Ratchet moaned in frustration as he cut himself on a badly placed point that was sticking out of the ship. It was so dark out now, he could hardly what he was doing. Too bad that Lombaxes didn't have night vision. Thankfully, though, help came his way as a bright green light shined on the area that he was working on. Ratchet turned his head and was nearly blinded by Clank's bright green eyes. It looked like that he had turned up the brightness of his eye lights so he could act as a flashlight in order to help his friend. The Lombax smiled and nodded, then returned to his work, "Thanks, Clank."

"I am happy to be of assistance," Clank replied, keeping his eyes on Ratchet's hands.

The rest of the proton scrubbing went smoothly thanks to the light that Clank provided. Ratchet couldn't be more thankful that the warbot decided to follow him back to Veldin and said that he wanted to stay and help him with his work. Clank even showed that he was capable of helping by suggesting that they should modify the proton scrubber with a Gadgetron Quasar Flash. And it had actually worked! If Clank hadn't given him the suggestion, then Ratchet probably would have been out here until midnight working on these ships. And he didn't want to know what that would have done to his hands. After finishing the ship and putting the proton scrubber down, he could feel the soreness in his hands, wrists and arms. Heck, his whole body was aching. But it was nothing that a good night's sleep could handle.

Ratchet rolled out from under the ship, tossing a rag and the proton scrubber in a nearby bucket that Clank had brought to him earlier. He stretched his legs and he let out a relieved sigh, "Welp, looks like we're done for the night. I am exhausted. I'm probably gonna grab a sandwich and then head on to-"

"Ratchet, watch your head!" Clank suddenly cried out, making the Lombax freeze in his current position.

Ratchet looked up and saw that the top of his forehead was making slight contact with the ship. If he had sat up all the way at the speed that he was going, then he would have hit his head hard. Ratchet scooted out more until he was fully out from under the ship, then he sat up all the way. He placed a hand on his head and sighed, "Whoo, that was close. Thanks, pal...again."

Clank smiled as he turned down the brightness in his eyes, settling on its normal green glow. He blinked a few times, then he walked over to the bucket with the proton scrubber and lifted it up, taking it over to the side of the garage and putting it up on a wooden board for safekeeping. Meanwhile, Ratchet stood up and stretched his legs again. and he cracked his back in the process ("I feel all tired and my joints are cracking a bunch. Is this what old people feel like? Is...is this what Grim feels like?"). The Lombax then let out a great big yawn and started walking towards the garage, motioning Clank to follow him. However, the warbot stood still and tilted his head. Ratchet asked what the problem was.

"Um, Ratchet, remember when I asked if I could stay around for a bit? What I meant was simply help you with your job. I did not actually intend on living here."

"Wait, you don't want to live here on Veldin with me?" Ratchet asked, raising an offended brow.

"No, it is not that I do not want to live here with you, it is because I do not think that I can live here. After all, your boss is the one who owns this garage; I have no right to just move in all of the sudden."

"What? Nonsense! After all, you helped me with this job that Grim kept pushing me to do, so he owes you. Come on," the Lombax pushed the robot forward towards the garage, "this garage is your new home. It's only fair, ya know?"

"I suppose..." Clank said. "After all, Zed is living here now because he works here, if I am correct."

"Yeah! Exactly! If Zed can live here, then why can't you?" Ratchet suddenly spoke very quickly and very quietly. "Plus Grim and I had an agreement that if he got a pet then I could get to have a pet, and that can be said for robots, too."

"Did you say something?"

"Nope! Come on, let's go inside."

Ratchet led Clank into the large garage, closing and locking the doors for the night. He tossed his keys onto a nearby table and looked around. His ears perked up when he saw Grimroth sitting at his desk, logging all of the ships that they had proton scrubbed and made a list of which ones were next in line. Ratchet grabbed Clank and placed the warbot behind his legs, and silently told him to stay behind there. The Lombax led his friend to the other side of the garage and took small steps so he wouldn't reveal Clank. Truth was, Ratchet didn't actually think that Grim would let Clank stay at the garage. After all, he already had Ratchet to deal with, and now Zed, he probably didn't want a third person living in his garage. So he was going to sneak Clank up to his room and have him hide there until everything got settled down at the garage. Then, on a day that Grim was in a good mood, Ratchet would ask him if he would let Clank stay there. It was a horrible plan, yes, but he wasn't going to let Clank be homeless until the second part of his plan happened.

So, quietly, Ratchet brought Clank around the garage and towards the staircase that went up to his room. The Lombax smiled, it looked like that he was in the clear. His horrible plan just might prevail.

At least...he thought so.

Because Clank was watching Ratchet and wondering why he was hiding him behind his legs, he didn't exactly look where he was going, and he stepped on a stray bolt on the floor. He rolled on it for a second before he slipped and fell face first onto the floor, making an obvious 'clank' noise. Ratchet's ears flattened and he quickly got onto his knees so he could help his friend up. He scooped Clank up and put him onto his feet. "Are you alright?"

Clank nodded as a response and brushed some dirt off of him, then he suddenly shrunk down, retracting his legs into his torso. Ratchet raised an eyebrow at his friend's behavior, but then he understood the meaning of it as a large shadow came over them.

"Where do ya think you're goin' with him?" Grimroth asked Ratchet with his large arms folded.

Ratchet felt himself shrink a little, and he pushed Clank behind him as he replied, "H-Hey, Grim! Umm...d-d-don't mind Clank, he's uhh...I was gonna uhh...you see-"

"Heh, if I didn't know better, I'd think that you were allowin' him to live here without my permission."

"What? Don't be ridiculous! I would never do such a thing without your permission."

"You said that he would be alright with it," Clank said, poking his head out from behind Ratchet.

The Lombax pushed the warbot's head back. "Not now, pal..."

"Look, Ratchet, I know that robot's your friend and all, but you can't just bring him into my garage and let him live here. We have a tight schedule around here, and I can't have you skippin' work so you can hang out with your friend."

"No no no! That's not how it is, Grim. Clank can actually help me with my job! He actually helped me with it today! I got all of the ships done because he helped me. He even helped me modify the proton scrubber with the Quasar Flash. Actually, that was his idea in the first place!"

"That was your idea?" Grimroth asked, looking at Clank, who nodded.

Ratchet stood up and sighed. "Grim, come on. Clank needs a place to stay, and he wants to stay here. He wants to stay with me. I don't blame him, really. After all, I'm the one who saved him from the crash site, I fixed his injuries, I even named him! Please, Grim, let Clank stay here. Besides, if Zed can stay here, then Clank can stay here, too."

"I heard that!" Zed called from the other side of the room.

"I don't care!" The Lombax yelled back. He looked up at Grim with big green eyes, hoping that he had convinced him.

The tusked Fongoid stared at his worker, his arms folded and his expression unamused. He took a big breath and let out a defeated sigh, which made Ratchet's expression lift. "Alright, fine, the robot can stay. But he's your responsibility."

"Uh...y-yeah! Of course!" Ratchet said happily, grabbing Clank's arm and pulling him towards the staircase. "He won't cause any trouble, trust me. And I'll keep an eye on him so he doesn't bother you, and I'll even pick up after him!"

"'Pick up after me'? I am a warbot, not your pet!" Clank snapped as he was pushed up the stairs.

Ratchet gave a convincing smile to Grimroth, who was rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He let out a huge sigh of relief and pushed Clank all the way up the stairs. The warbot stumbled as he reached the top step, and he moved a few steps so Ratchet could get up as well. The orange Lombax let out a small moan and went face first into his bed. Clank went up to him and folded his arms. "'I am your responsibility'. I am my own being, not your pet canine."

"I know, I'm sorry, but I had to kind of overdue it with the responsibility I was gonna take with you in order to convince Grim. And look, it worked! You can stay here! How awesome is that?" Ratchet said, sitting up.

Clank's offended face went away and was replaced by a much happier one. He nodded in agreement to Ratchet's statement, "Yes, I am quite elated that I am allowed to stay. Are you sure that I will not be a burden?"

"Of course not! Like I said, it was way too quiet without you around here. It'll be nice having you live here." The Lombax said, both him and Clank smiling at each other. Ratchet then yawned and flopped back down onto his bed. "Man I'm tired. I think that I'm gonna go to bed. What do you say, pal?"

"I would not mind powering down for the night."

"Sweet". As Clank looked around the room with a confused look on his face, Ratchet ducked behind his workbench and changed into his pajamas: a white t-shirt and dark green boxer shorts. He hung up his aviator cap on a tack that was in his bulletin board and sat down on his bed. The Qwark clock on his wall read 10:32, so he would have to get to sleep soon if he didn't want to fall asleep while doing more proton scrubs tomorrow. The Lombax grabbed his orange comforter and pulled it up, preparing to dive in and sleep the night off. But he found his eyes drifting upwards and locating a green glow coming from the other side of his room. Clank had folded in his limbs and was settled in the corner. It looked like that he was going to sleep there. Ratchet frowned. Was Clank really going to sleep in that corner on the dirty floor? That was...sad. Ratchet didn't want his friend sleeping on the floor. He really should have thought of a place for Clank to sleep beforehand.

"Hey, what are you doing down there on the floor?" Ratchet asked, walking towards the warbot.

"Well, I could not think of anywhere else that I could power down. The only bed in this room is yours," Clank replied, looking up at his friend.

"That doesn't mean that you have to sleep on the dirty floor. I'm sure that we'll find something for you. Let's see..." Ratchet placed a hand on his chin and looked around his small room. There had to be somewhere that Clank could sleep. But his room would so small, there were very little options that Clank could choose from. There was the bed, which was what he slept in, and...that was about it. The only thing that was left was his workbench...!

Ratchet suddenly grabbed Clank and put him on the bed, making the robot tilt his head in confusion. He unfolded his limbs and watched curiously as Ratchet grabbed one of the two pillows on his bed and toss it onto his workbench. His tail swished around as he searched through various drawers that were presumably full of tools, and it twitched when he pulled out a cloth.

Ratchet placed the cloth on the pillow and stepped away looking quite proud. He looked at Clank with a smile on his face. "Check it out! Instant bed! What do you think?" Clank tilted his head as he looked at his...'bed'. It seemed awfully messy and somewhat primitive. It wasn't really an ideal place for rest. But, he had to admit, it was a lot better than sleeping on the floor. Ratchet grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the workbench, lifting him up and setting him down on the pillow, which was fairly flat. He looked up at Ratchet, who looked satisfied with his idea. "It's pretty sweet, right?"

Though Clank saw many flaws in this sleeping arrangement, he smiled and nodded, "This is acceptable, yes."

"Cool! Now that your bed problem is solved, I need to deal with my bed problem. The fact that I'm not in it is bad, so I've gotta fix that."

Clank watched Ratchet walk over to his bed and dive under the comforter, surfacing at the top and plopping his head down onto his pillow. The Lombax laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling, moonlight that leaked into the garage lighting up his golden fur. Clank did the opposite of Ratchet and laid down on his stomach and placed the side of his head on his pillow mattress. The green cloth that acted as his blanket covered his entire torso and legs, but his feet were sticking out at the end. But he didn't mind. If they got cold, he would just retract his legs into his torso. The two laid there in silence for several minutes, the sound of Grimroth moving downstairs was the only sound in the whole garage. Until, eventually, Ratchet spoke while still looking up at the ceiling.

"Long day today, huh Clank?"

"Indeed it was. We accomplished much today. We finally stopped Drek and Nefarious from destroying the entire galaxy and destroyed the Deplanetizer."

"Yeah, and we got to become Galactic Rangers! I finally accomplished my lifelong dream...only to come back to the garage and make it seem like that none of it happened."

"But you were the one who promised Grimroth that you would return and work for him again, so you cannot complain."

"Yeah, yeah. But even you have to admit that you'll miss working at the Hall of Heroes."

"It was enjoyable yes. I liked being Elaris's assistant."

Ratchet raised an eyebrow as he caught a certain tone in Clank's voice. He looked at the warbot with a smile, "Heh, you really like working with Elaris, huh? Do you...do you have a thing with her?"

Clank tilted his head at the question, "I do not understand."

"You know, are you two like...or planning to be...?"

The warbot observed the look that Ratchet was giving him. It almost looked like that he knew something that he didn't, but what was it? And what did liking Elaris have to do with it? The explanation that he could think of was that Ratchet believed that he had feeling for Elaris...oh dear. Clank's face went metaphorically bright red and he glared at the Lombax, who chuckled a bit as he noticed that Clank finally got what he was talking about. Clank narrowed his optics, "I-I do not like her in that way, Ratchet! You are being ridiculous!"

"Uh-huh, sure I am. Hahaha!"

"W-Well...I suppose that I should now analyze the relationship that you have with Miss Veralux. She seems to have warmed up to you quickly."

Ratchet stopped chuckling as his own face began turning red. He shot a look at Clank, "What are you talking about? I don't have a crush on her! I-I mean...I called her cranky, remember? And she threatened to shoot me! What do you call that?"

"Tough love."

"Very funny, Clank, very funny..." The two stared daggers at each other for a bit, both red in the face after talking about each other's crushes out in the open. Green eyes pierced green eyes. Teeth clenched together and a metal jaw tightened. It was like this for about a minute. Until...

"Hahahahaha!"

"Hehehehehe!"

Ratchet and Clank suddenly broke down with laughter, their faces still red from embarrassment. But it was because they were so embarrassed that they found this all so funny. Also because they both remember when Ratchet called Cora 'cranky', and to save himself from being strangled by him, he claimed that he had said 'thank-ye for those words of wisdom'. Even though he was afraid for his life at the time because he had made Cora mad, Ratchet couldn't help but laugh at the memory, and Clank felt the same way. It took a little bit for the two to settle down, and when they did, Ratchet kept a smile on his face and glanced sideways at Clank.

"You know, Clank, I gotta admit...it's really fun havin' you live here."

"I am happy to be living here," Clank replied.

The Lombax and warbot smiled at each other, then everything went silent. The lights in the garage went off as Grimroth went off to bed, and the sound of Heliogrubs crawling around was faintly heard outside. Clank put his head down on his pillow mattress as he felt drowsiness come on to him. Ratchet felt the same way was he secured the covers on him and closed his eyes, his ears falling and resting with him. He mumbled as he began drifting off.

"Goodnight, Clank..."

"Goodnight, Ratchet," Clank replied somewhat lazily as the glow in his eyes and antenna began to fade. The warbot and Lombax's green eyes closed slowly, and like that, they were both asleep after a long day of saving the universe.

Well, that was quite fun to write!

I always wondered where exactly Clank would sleep when he decided to stay at the garage with Ratchet at the end of the movie. Ratchet didn't have a nightstand, so the workbench was my next guess. Put Clank with a pillow and a little blanket and boom! Instant little robot bed!

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This is Amberdiamondswords, Lordess of Diamond Swordness, pledger to Tobuscus, signing off!