No Rest-Part 1(You’re Warm Prequel)
What???? I’m back with even MORE Refarious (i.e. Ratchet/Nefarious)??? Damn straight I am and whatever haters are still lurking in the tags STILL can’t stop me. I’m here to be a menace with this ship lmao
Anyway yes this is the prequel to my multi-chapter fic, You’re Warm. Are you new to the ship or you want to catch up? You can read them here. This has also been x-posted to my A03 as well, as part of my “Robot Lover” series if you’re interested in reading more!
Please enjoy!
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He never thought he’d see the day a robot blushed.
More importantly, he never thought he would live to see the next day after seeing Doctor Nefarious, of all robots, blush.
Ratchet watched as Nefarious set to work fixing Commander Spog’s voice modulator after being thoroughly beaten by him not to long ago. He thought for sure the doctor was going to rip the old warbot’s modulator right out, ignoring the deal Clank made. But there he was, very reluctantly, repairing the old bot while simultaneously trying to keep Qwark from offering any “help”.
Ratchet smiled to himself, despite the circumstances and the very real possibility that they were all stuck on this remote planet the galaxy forgot for the rest of their lives, seeing Nefarious so out of his element and willing (albeit reluctantly) to help out...was nice; a different change of pace for the hero. Being good looked good on the doctor, though Ratchet would never say that out loud.
It certainly was an adjustment, for all of them, to “live” and work together in order to survive and make their way back to civilization. The bad chemistry between all three of them didn’t help make it easy. And Nefarious stated multiple times that despite his words and actions on the Great Clock, he had no true animosity towards the great Secret Agent Clank. But the even WORSE chemistry between Qwark and Nefarious always threatened the fragile peace the group had. Ratchet was sure that Clank was the only thing keeping Nefarious from tossing Qwark off a fjord.
“QUALIFICATIONS?! YOU CAN’T EVEN BOIL WATER; WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN FIX A VOICE MODULATOR?!”
And there it was, the fragile peace broken for the fifth time that day.
“Captain Qwark please, I offered Dr. Nefarious’ help with this for a reason. Not even Ratchet-”
“Don’t drag the boy into this, he’s entirely too young to understand the complex and delicate nature of robotics!”
“HE’S THE SAME AGE AS ME!”
“Please don’t bring me into this...”
Ratchet snuck off to the side as Qwark and Nefarious continued to bicker and Clank tried to play referee. He always tried his best not to get involved in the arguments the two had; the one time he did, he sided with Nefarious and Qwark ran off into the brush, feeling betrayed by his “one true loyal fan” and it took them hours to find him. Qwark sat like an overgrown green toddler afterward, being disciplined by Clank for thirty minutes.
He sighed as Qwark and Nefarious kept bickering while the robot kept working on Commander Spog. Ratchet was impressed with the doctor’s ability to multitask like that. His mind must be in multiple places right now, but he kept working. Kept moving deft claws around delicate circuitry while telling Qwark to walk backwards off of Obani Draco. Impressive. Ratchet wondered if Nefarious was thinking of the conversation they had after Qwark had run away. It was...different.
“-bestselling Happy Platypus addition, then I think I know a thing or two about fixing a voice box! And I know you’re doing this part wrong!”
“Say that again with my BOOT up your-”
“Doctor please, there are children present!”
“Heyyyy I’m seven years old! I’m not a kid anymore!” Susie suddenly yelled from the sidelines.
“BESTSELLING!!!”
Nefarious angrily swung his leg into Spog’s face (and Ratchet had no doubt that it was the aforementioned boot he wanted to give to Qwark) and the loud resounding clang silenced all arguments. No one spoke, everyone staring anxiously at the old warbot who just wanted to retire after all of this was over. Even Nefarious had the sense to look a bit ashamed at what he had done. Ratchet slowly made his way back over to the group. Nefarious hadn’t...kicked Spog’s head off...did he?
“It was Nefarious, not me! You all saw him kill that Captain Sprog guy!” Qwark suddenly yelled out, breaking the tense silence and deflecting all fault to someone else.
“ME?! I’LL KILL YOU MYSELF, THIS YOUR FAULT!”
A soft chime suddenly rang out, cutting through the newest quarrel that threatened to turn physical. All the attention was back on Commander Spog, the sound coming from him. Nefarious released the warbot’s head and slowly backed away as he rebooted. No need to be directly in the line of sight of a robot that tried to kill you only a few minutes before. Everyone but Ratchet took a step back as the commander rose; no one really trusting the warbot not to grab them all up.
“Alright Spog. We did our part. Now how do we defeat Ephemeris?” Ratchet had no idea if the commander would really help them. He didn’t know the warbot like he knew Nefarious; he didn’t know the right words to say to get Spog to work with them in their time of need. All he could do was put on a brave face and hope for the best. And hope Nefarious still had his Orb of Gratuitous Confusion still hidden on him somewhere. Just in case.
The commander was silent. Why couldn’t these bad guys just get straight to the point like Nefarious? Ratchet had to admit he liked that about the robot. No beating around the bush; he let you know he was going to beat you to death and did it. Wait, focus on Spog before he caught you off guard.
“My knowledge is limited. Only the architect knows. He lives beyond the lighthouse, in the forest of the blue rocks. Be cautious. And thank you.”
The old warbot took off without another word. Ratchet let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. He turned towards Nefarious and gave him a thumbs up (with a smile to match). The doctor really helped them out. And that’s when he saw it. It was quick and Nefarious would later swear up and down that it was a trick of the light and dust in the air. The robot’s faceplate looked a bit red. Was he...blushing?? Nefarious turned and stalked away, clearly flustered and absolutely done with the entire day.
“Hey, where ya going?! You did the right thing doctor!” Qwark yelled out, noticing Nefarious walking away.
“Get bent!”
-
That was two days ago.
It wouldn’t leave his head. It happened so quickly and he left so suddenly, Ratchet thought that maybe he imagined the entire thing happening. Cause if it actually happened...why was he still alive? Surely, he would’ve been killed in his sleep since he was the only one who saw it. Nefarious blushed. Ratchet gave the doctor a silent compliment and he blushed. And he liked it.
That is to say, he liked that Nefarious, even for a split second, showed an emotion other than hate for the predicament he was in and extreme disgust for the group he was stuck with in said predicament. Yes, that. And nothing else.
Today was a day to cool off and relax after the battle with Commander Spog, they all needed a little break before continuing to find this architect guy; but cooling off and relaxing seemed to be the only thing Ratchet was incapable of doing when that’s all he wanted since the start of this mess. Nefarious was at the forefront of his mind. Why? He didn’t know. He was glad the robot wasn’t here; Ratchet was sure that he would stare a hole into the doctor’s head if he was. Subtlety was not exactly his strong suit. Most of the time.
Ratchet appreciated and loathed the time off. He appreciated having time in-between fighting and adventuring to just breathe; but at the same time, he needed something to do. He needed something to work on, busy his hands and his mind. Distract himself from lying here and thinking about Nefarious.
Nefarious. He was definitely something else. Ratchet admired the doctor’s tenacity and his ingenuity. The immeasurable stick-to-itiveness in the face of defeat. The way Nefarious was able to command the spotlight with ease (whereas Ratchet only just got around to working on his stage fright.) And though he would never admit it out loud, his ruthlessness on the battlefield was something to behold. But he would never let the doctor know, the robot didn’t need his ego inflated any more than it already was.
“Well, you’re harder to find than an ottsel’s hideout.”
“Wha-uh Nefarious!?” Ratchet scrambled to sit upright as the robot practically ripped bushes out of his path, making his way over to the Lombax. Speak of the devil and eventually he’ll answer. “S-sorry, were you looking for me?”
“No, I just decided to spend thirty minutes of my time looking to the sky for shits and giggles, WHAT DO YOU THINK?!”
“Sorry!”
“Whatever.” Nefarious thrust his entire right arm into Ratchet’s lap. “My elbow server isn’t actuating properly. Normally I wouldn’t have a foul squishy like you fixing it, this is something I’d rather have Lawrence do while I watch the latest Lance and Janet episode.”
“And?” Ratchet shot a glare to the arm in his lap and to the robot in question. What was Nefarious up to now?
“And the last time I trusted Qwark with any part of me, my body was living it up in Pokitaru while my head was in Zordoom for a month!”
Ratchet shot the robot a displeased look. “You know, there should be a ‘please’ thrown in somewhere there.”
“Do it or I’ll break your elbow server!”
“Nefarious, I don’t have an elbow server...”
“FINE! Whatever it is that keeps you damnable squishies together!”
“Weren’t you a squishy once?”
“...that’s debatable.”
Ratchet laughed. “Right, of course.” He sighed and started popping open the armour shell on Nefarious’ damaged arm. There was no point in trying to wrestle a “please” or anything else close to it from the robot. Ratchet didn’t think the other had it in him to try and be pleasant. He didn’t know how the doctor managed to fake it with the Fongoids and not implode, but that was a conversation for another day.
He poked around the delicate wires and treacherous looking machinery in Nefarious’ arm, humming and sneaking quick looks at the other’s face. This was the closest he’d ever been to the robot outside of battle. Ratchet never gave a second thought about the two of them practically on top of each other when they were fighting. This was an entirely different situation and he was surprised the doctor wasn’t freaking out, being this close and having his arch enemy poking through his delicate insides. Nefarious had his head turned away and resting on his left hand, eyes half lidded with an absolutely disinterested look on his face. Seeing him this calm and quiet was...nice. But still a little weird. But it wouldn’t do well to focus too long on such a small observation, he could miss the thing he was looking for, focus Ratchet.
Ratchet couldn’t find what was causing Nefarious’ elbow servers to act up. All the chip boards he could see looked fine; wiring was firm. He looked further down from the elbow joint into his forearm; amongst all the lights blinking at him he noticed something amiss. It was so small; Ratchet thought to himself that if he kept sneaking glances at Nefarious and taking in his once in a blue moon calm demeanor, not paying close attention at all, he might have missed it. And he didn’t want to know how Nefarious would react if couldn’t find a solution, with the only explanation he could offer being “I couldn’t stop looking at your face.”. He’d like to live to see tomorrow thank you.
“It looks like something was accidentally magnetized, probably when you were working Spog. I can reverse that no problem!” Ratchet proclaimed, reaching into his pocket and procuring his ever trust worthy travel sized toolkit. ‘Never leave the planet without it’ he always told Clank, and right now he was glad he followed that mantra.
“Wait, do you actually know how to fix it?” Nefarious asked incredulously.
“Of course I do, I help Clank with these kinds of things whenever he needs it and for whatever robot that wanders into my garage. I can fix more than ships you know.”
“So how do I know you’re not pulling my leg then? Or you won’t rip off my arm and send me off a cliff?!” There was the paranoia, Ratchet hadn’t seen it in a while. He gently pulled the arm Nefarious was trying to wrench back into his control with little success. The arm just wasn’t responding.
“I don’t have anything to gain by leaving you unable to move and defend yourself. I want to get you off this planet too.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. And if that means giving a couple of repairs to the guy that’s tried to kill me more than once, I’m happy to do it.”
Nefarious fell silent at that, no longer trying to will his arm to magically get up and run away, and Ratchet took that as his queue to get to work. Nefarious seemed...put out, like that small conversation had taken all the air out of him and now he didn’t know what to do. But just as soon as the thought had entered the Lombax’s head, it seemed like a spark reignited in the doctor and he reinflated, turning to Ratchet and flicking his forehead.
“Ow! What the hell Nefarious?!” Ratchet hissed, the hand not currently holding a very important piece in the robot’s arm rubbing at his forehead.
“You just carry tools around with you? Why? And why didn’t you tell Qwark? We could’ve fixed his weird kaleido-cube thing and not hear him whine about it for two days straight!”
“Well yeah! Part of that was just to get back at someone for getting us into this mess in the first place!” Ratchet snapped back.
Nefarious scoffed.
“AND it's also in case of any emergencies, something needs fixing-”
“Or you need to hotwire a ship for a quick getaway?” Nefarious asked, his trademark sneer fixed on his face.
Ratchet tensed a little, then relaxed, laughing nervously at the sudden question thrown at him. Damn it, he couldn’t look up at the robot. “Oh...so you remember that conversation, huh?”
“Of course I do! Finding out the greatest hero the universe has ever known still has warrants out for his arrest?! This is the kind blackmail material any villain worth his salt dreams about!” Nefarious laughed.
“Yeah...let’s not tell anyone about that?” Ratchet continued tinkering away at the inside of Nefarious’ arm, feeling the heat rising in his ears. WHY did he go ahead and tell Nefarious a thing like that so casually? “That was just a seriously bad habit I picked up from this guy named Jak...I’ve been meaning to stop!”
“And?”
“And...trying to get away from the cops in a damaged, street legal mind you, racing ship is a lot harder than it looks!” Ratchet finally looked at Nefarious; glaring at the robot as he laughed at him.
“Street racing, stealing ships AND resisting arrest?! Ratchet, how could you?!” Nefarious asked, placing his free hand on his chest place and feigning shock. Ooh Ratchet hated that smirk.
“H-hey! You’re the villain here! My crimes are victimless!” Ratchet exclaimed.
“Tell that to Old Man McCree who just lost his only way to get to Galaxy Burger. A victim of your so-called ‘victimless crimes’, I feel so bad for him....” Nefarious sighed, wiping away a fake tear. Ratchet just scoffed, going back to his work.
“...how fast did you say that scooter went?”
Ratchet perked up. “After I souped it up? Oh man, it broke sound barriers.” Ratchet sighed dreamily.
“And the old squishy’s heart.”
The two looked at each other and laughed at Nefarious’ absolutely terrible joke. They fell into a comfortable silence as Ratchet went back to work on the doctor’s arm. Nefarious felt calm and tense at the same time, glaring into the bushes like he was daring someone to come into the small clearing they were sitting in and say something about him being handled by a squishy. Would it be weird assure Nefarious that no one would think he was “betraying” robotkind being fixed by an organic lifeform, if anyone did come looking for them?
Maybe it was for the best he just kept quiet and let Nefarious do whatever it took to help him feel better about this whole situation he was in. Ratchet wasn’t entirely sure the robot was okay with him messing around in his arm like this (and being an organic lifeform while doing it) and if glaring at the bushes, waiting to tear apart anyone who dared to come through and question them kept Nefarious quiet, then so be it. All Ratchet wanted was to enjoy this.
He soldered one last piece that looked off and paused. But..why did he want to enjoy this? It didn’t matter, question it later and let Nefarious go before he exploded.
“Andddd done. All patched up.” Ratchet declared, closing Nefarious’ armour. He quickly gave it a once over, confident in his work and urging Nefarious to try his arm out. The doctor gave him an uncertain look, obvious not confident in Ratchet’s work.
“Trust me doc, I know what I’m doing, and it should work. Try it! Please?”
Nefarious continued to give his arm all his uncertainty and decidedly ignoring the pleading look Ratchet was giving him. It took everything in him to ask the squishy for help, and double that to trust him enough to fix his arm and play around with his exposed insides. But the doctor could sense no ill will from the other, just and honest and genuine need to help someone in need. So...he should put his confidence in the Lombax’s abilities and trust that his arm was working like it should. Right?
He wiggled his fingers, bent his arm slowly, suddenly thrusting violently into the air, startling the squishy next to him.
Right.
Nefarious gave his arm a once over and got up. Maybe Ratchet was the one squishy he could trust while stuck out here in the boonies. From a distance. At arm’s length.
“Uh, its just a patch job! I don’t have all my tools with me, but once we get back to Polaris I can-”
Ratchet paused, blushing as Nefarious suddenly shot him a look that surprisingly wasn’t murderous. Was it grateful? Appreciative?
“Thanks.” Nefarious roughly growled. He turned and walked back the way he came, stomping through the flora he ripped out not to long ago. All Ratchet could do was stare starry-eyed in the robot’s direction. It was crude and he could barely hear it...but the doctor thanked him. Him! A squishy and his sworn enemy!
Ratchet felt a grin creep up on his face, but it was dispelled just as fast when he saw the robot quickly turn back to him and shoot a nasty glare his way. He stared back, wondering what in the world he did to anger the doctor now?
“This,” Nefarious motioned between them. “Stays between US. No one else. Got it?”
“R-right! Got it, Space Ranger’s honour!”
“Yeah, right.” Nefarious growled, finally out of sight.
But not out of mind.
Ratchet could feel the fur on his face burning. Why in the wide world of arena matches was he blushing? He tried to will it away, rubbing away at his face.
“It’s no use...” Ratchet whined, falling back onto the ground he was trying to enjoy before Nefarious showed up.
Nefarious. Why was this menace to the universe (on of them at least) causing to be so off his game today?
“What is going on?”
-End of Part 1-