TF1 OptiRatch headcanons, go!!!!
...oh my god... so i just spent the last two ish hours writing a little drabble that has been stuck inside my brain, only for tumblr to make me take a screenshot of it instead of letting me copy paste the whole thing. anyway, irrelevant. the drabble has allowed me to come up with this list of headcanons!
Ratchet
the first time orion and ratchet meet is immediately after the iacon 5000
ratchet HATES the iacon 5000. he thinks its an utter waste of time and resources.
when they meet, D-16 is still very mad and he kind of lashes out at Ratchet too, but Ratchet is like ??? aint no way this bot is mad at me but in the suspicious way, not the angry way
anyway, the entire situation makes ratchet think theyre conjunxes, its very funny.
still ratchet gets absolutely enraptured by orion
big, blue doe eyes are his weakness, and boy howdy does orion pax possess those.
orion is actually very free with his field and while it kind of startles ratchet at first, he realizes that he really likes the way orion's field feels
orion is still very, very giddy and coming down from the adrenaline rush of the race. he's all smiles and laughs and jokes, which pulls ratchet in even more
the best way to describe him is absolutely enigmatic
without even realizing it, ratchet accidentally spends way more time with orion than he does D-16.
Ratchet has always been...suspicious of cogless bots. He knows that there is something seriously wrong. Not with the bots themselves, but with the fact that they have no cogs.
While the medical records had been wiped clean regarding the fact that all bots are born with cogs (unbeknownst to ratchet), he finds it very curious that bots are born with the place for a cog, but no cog itself.
so, ratchet has begun to do some digging on the side. mostly just making notes of patients regarding their frame types and the curious ailments they come in with
orion is not exempt from this
his hands are much too delicate for mining, far more sensitive and dexterous than sturdy and forged for manual labor.
he has to keep reminding himself that theyre not in his private office, nor is this something that he can look into.
ratchet really, really wants to be the one to repair orion's hands. anything to see this very curious bot one more time
D-16 is not having it.
when ratchet leaves he has to catch his breath. it was so hard for him to be professional when orion's big eyes were staring at him like he held all the knowledge of the universe
ratchet does not consider himself someone who falls easily, nor does he really consider himself romantic at all
even then, he felt this pull towards orion. he chalks it up to curiosity, even though it's obviously deeper than that.
plus its not like it even matters, ratchet wouldve sworn up and down that orion and d-16 were a thing.
Orion Pax
orion is fucking grateful that finally it's not just him and D-16 in the room
dgmw, he loves D-16 with his whole chest, but orion always, always struggled with him when he gets like this. mans is not emotionally intelligent enough to deal with his bestie's BPD (yes this is my personal D-16 headcanon, i will die on this hill)
so when ratchet comes in, he almost instantly relaxes
he thinks ratchet is kind of stuffy at first, like he's obviously uncomfortable and the way he talks is very indicative of that
orion immediately wants to help him loosen up. man cannot deal with two socially inept bots at one time. so he opens his field to him
to his surprise, ratchet reciprocates, but only slightly
orion ALSO likes the way ratchet's field matches with his. instant "i want to be your friend" vibes here
when ratchet pays special attention to his hands, orion is internally screaming the entire time
hes generally not used to gentle touch, and theres something about the way that ratchet is holding his hands that makes his spark flutter
he is desperately spinning code so his aux fans don't kick on. this guy gets flustered so easy. he cannot bear the thought of D-16 making fun of him for almost instantly getting a crush on this doctor
that doesnt stop his processor from failing to form thoughts. he knows ratchet is asking him important questions, but all he can think is "pretty mech touching my hands"
if orion didnt already have his gay awakening, this would've been it
i feel like after ratchet leaves theres a good 15 minutes of silence between him and D-16 where orion is just trying to get his Gay Thoughts(tm) under control
final yapping
in the end, i think its incredibly funny to make orion pax like this far less mature version of optimus. he feels everything x10 and doesn't really know what to do with the feelings, so he just kind of acts like a fool.
meanwhile ratchet is out here like "yeah he's pretty but i have a job to do." that doesn't mean orion doesn't haunt his thoughts after though. he definitely does. the image of his big eyes staring at him won't leave ratchet for a long time.
theyre both gay fools. the tiny crush is mutual. its forgotten about though throughout the events of the movie. orion has much more important things to worry about than a pretty doctor who gently held his hands.
the next time they see each other is after orion became optimus. this was for a standard check up, in which ratchet had to run a full diagnostic of him. ratchet can't help but begin ranting about how he knew something was up with sentinel, with the cogless bots, with that entire fucking situation.
the check up ends with optimus listening to this clearly autistic (positive) mech explain every red string he put together, and how the revolution confirmed all of his missing pieces. (im projecting here because this is my personal brand of autism)
tbh, optimus is impressed. they quickly do become friends, and as the war begins, he realizes that ratchet is a very talented doctor and quickly they earn each others trust. they become good friends, too. optimus likes to listen to ratchet talk about science, talk about new medical breakthroughs. he will often bring ratchet decepticon medical tech he finds out in the field for him to reverse engineer.
optimus absolutely enables ratchet's special interest (medicine) and ratchet absolutely loves optimus for it.
in conclusion, theyre gay neurodivergents your honor.
