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Ratchet was second guessing this little adventure.
And despite any convincing to be had otherwise, it was because of Drift.
He was far too excited to gallivant in all manner of worlds and Ratchet just couldn’t gain the same level of enthusiasm for any of the ‘unique’ planets they came across. Never mind that this whole escapade was a processor child of his mind and was meant to have an overarching purpose. That purpose was not “vacationing” or “spreading joy and cheer”. But the medic couldn’t complain about his radiating positivity and optimism, so he chose to complain about what he could.
“It’s too damn cold.”
Drift tossed a distracted glance over his shoulder at Ratchet. The warrior was scouting ahead to ensure that only one of them would fall through any snowdrifts. This left Ratchet on true terra firma at the bottom of the ship, stamping his ped to try and keep his coolant from freezing his lines.
“It is a little further from the central star than the other plants.”
“That’s no excuse.”
Ratchet wished they made those organic woven fibers for robots. What were they called again? Scarves? The brisk air needled between his seams like icy digits, chilling his lines. He was forced to clutch himself at the elbows and hope that it would conserve enough heat to keep his spark bright. As he stared at the blindingly white snow, he wondered if his vehicle mode would conserve more heat.
His HUD beeped too late.
WHAP!
At first, Ratchet though whatever hit him caused static, but as the snow from the pile hurled at him slipped past his armor, he realized was just a snowball.
He turned his helm to see Drift, still poised in the follow through of his throw.
A multitude of curses in several different languages queued helpfully in his processor, but he shut them down quickly.
He vented out a sigh.
“I was hoping you’d smile or something. Why did you come if you weren’t going to have fun?”
“I’m waiting for you,” he huffed out, “You’re supposed to tell me where it’s safe to tread.”
“You aren’t going to retaliate? I’ll give you a free shot.”
Ratchet watched as Drift straightened up, his back curving slightly as his servos spread wide. His excitement came from the first time seeing snow so harmless and thick. But Ratchet had enough of the stuff slowly melting between the armor of his chassis.
“I’ll be waiting inside where it’s warm.”
“Ratchet, wait. I’m sorry.”
The medic sucked in some of the freezing cold air, letting it clear his systems from any residual heat caused by his anger and blew out the exhaust in a puff of steam.
Drift was just being kind, trying to be positive while Ratchet figured things out. It wasn’t his fault it was cold on this uninhabited planet and it wasn’t his fault that the medic was frustrated. He shook his helm and faced his self-appointed bodyguard.
“One free throw?”
Drift grinned, “Yeah.”
Ratchet stepped off the safety of solid ground and felt the snow crunch around his peds. He ignored the gut feeling that he was going to fall through to try to have fun. He bent down to scoop up a massive snowball, the chill of the ice making his digits twinge as he compacted it.
Drift saw before he did, and the grin turned into a grim line as the snow crumbled beneath Ratchet’s peds. He scrambled forward, throwing up snow behind him, just as Ratchet felt himself slipping.
He closed his optics bracing for the hard fall to his aft. His companion would probably laugh at him after this and replay the spill repeatedly.
Instead of the sharp cold to his aft Ratchet fell to rest on top of Drift. The bodyguard had skidded beneath him with the fear that he was falling through the snow.
“Gotcha,” Drift smiled out a radiant smile, happy that they were both relatively unharmed.
“Oh yes, a hard metal frame is preferable over the soft impact of snow,” Ratchet couldn’t keep the irritation from his tone or the flush off his faceplate.
The warrior started laughing, nervous and bursting out of him like water overflowing its container.
Ratchet wouldn’t be tricked into happiness so easily. Even if he was being cradled in the snow, the warmth of the other’s spark heating his side he would never let the other have this happy moment so free.
He frowned and with a quick, efficient swipe of his servo, dumped the surrounding snow onto the warrior.
A shriek like the shrill call of steam squeaked out of the swordmaster.
“I swear to everything you hold dear if you say ‘that’s’no fair’ I’ll take out your voice box while you’re sleeping.”
“It’s really cold,” Drift said squirming and trying to shake off the snow without using his servos.
Ratchet opened his mouth to point out that he was being ridiculous before he felt Drift squeeze into him a little. Drift had sacrificed his home, his dearest one, and sociability to accompany him on this half-baked journey. He wasn’t like the medic, he wasn’t fine with being alone and with Ratchet for his company he probably did feel isolated.
He would live to regret this but it would be good to run down some of Drift's energy. A little fun couldn't hurt either of them.
“If you’d like, I could get some paneling from the ship and we could go sledding.”
“Really?” Drift practically knocked him off in his excitement. He realized his mistake and helped Ratchet up.
“First, make sure the way down is stable,” Ratchet ordered, pointing a finger at the snow drifts, "Last thing I want is to start an avalanche."
Drift bounded through the snow to embrace Ratchet in a quick hug, "Thanks for humoring me."
Ratchet groaned and shook off the younger bot, "Just go before I change my mind."
He typed in the command to lower the hatch but looked worryingly at his traveling companion. Drift seemed happy to shuffle through the snow with the promise of fun. Ratchet would have to find some way to thank him later.
As long as it was somewhere warmer.