Work Text:
Sat down at the monitor, Ratchet was monitoring for new Energon sources. It was currently 7:30pm on Friday night, and no matter how many times he checked the computer he was still not finding anything. He wouldn’t say he was bored, but he would prefer anything but looking at the infuriating display one more time. Propping his chin up with his hand, Ratchet glanced around the room until he spotted the children. In their own area of the room, one of them was playing against Bumblebee in one of their racing games. By the sounds of it, Raf was currently in the lead.
Continuing to watch them, Ratchet almost laughed at how happy they all looked. Just enjoying their day before Decepticons or whatever else happened. It was almost calming in a way, just enjoying listening to them talk to each other. He was so engrossed in watching that the bang of a car door took him by surprise. June Darby stepped out of her car with a cloth bag clutched in her left hand. She looked over at the kids while she was walking towards his monitoring station.
“Looks like Bee is having fun.” She said simply with a small smile playing on her lips.
Ratchet only hummed in acknowledgement and agreement.
“Mind lending me a hand up, Ratchet?” June asked, indicating the bench near the medic.
Since their first introduction, Ratchet and June had grown a sort of kinship. Both of them being medics of their own respective species, they had a lot in common. So eventually Ratchet had found a comfortable large plush chair for her to sit in when she would visit so she wouldn’t have to stand or sit on the cold metal.
Lending her a hand, he lifted her up onto the bench to where she headed straight for the chair and dropped down into it. She let out a large sigh before kicking off her shoes and tucking them underneath herself as she made herself comfortable.
“So, anything fun happen today?” June asked as she glanced at the monitor Ratchet was sitting at.
“Not at all. Not even a blip has appeared on the screen. I swear I don’t want an attack to occur but at least an energon source would do nicely.”Ratchet tapped at a button to change the display, zooming it out a bit further.
“Sometimes you have to enjoy the slow days though. Means less work for you. Which is in your mind a complete crisis, am I right?” June teased the bot, watching as Ratchet scowled at her.
“I have everything organised, nothing needs fixing, so yes. A crisis it is.” The medic rapped his servos across the metal a few times before glancing over to June when he heard something rustling.
“What is that?” He asked, glancing at the ball of string she had pulled out from the bag she carried in. It was a very fine thread with blues, light greens, purples, all mixed in together.
“Oh this? It’s just my crochet. I thought since the kids were spending time here, and me not needing to work tomorrow, that I might catch up on it. It’s a hat I’m making for myself” She held it up for him to see where it was interwoven with itself, creating the shape of a bowl. The colors were even striping along it’s sides, creating a unique pattern.
Ratchet hummed as he leaned in close to inspect it. “It’s very interesting.”
June grinned before beginning to position her hands. Her left hand had the string wrapped around the pinkie, and up and over the thumb right before where the string connected to the finished work. She held the sides of the finished work between her thumb and pointer finger, all still with her left hand. In her right hand she held a hook like instrument that was inserted into the loop.
“Do you want me to teach you? You’re obviously bored and the monitor does chime when something happens, so why don’t I just teach you a new hobby?” June lifted up the work in empathis to her question.
Considering his options, Ratchet decided it couldn’t hurt anything if he learned the craft. After all, June had a good point.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to hold something that small but watching doesn’t sound all that terrible.”
Ratchet said under his breath before seating himself near her where he could easily watch.
A week later Agent Fowler brought in a Cybertronian sized crochet hook and a gigantic ball of nylon rope. The hook was made by one of their engineers in another facility and the rope was the only thing remotely close to yarn that could withstand a giant robot.
Ratchet was practically overwhelmed with joy, after having watched June work on her project for hours even after his shift was up. The amount of dexterity needed in the hands, the way it worked up and created a new thing out of thin air. The old bot was smitten with the idea of trying, even if it was just for a frivolous thing to do. Perhaps it could help him unwind from long stressful days. Picking the items up, he thanked Fowler before walking back to his room.
Sitting down on his berth, he found the end of the rope and laid the ball on the ground. Accessing his personal monitor, Ratchet searched up ‘how to crochet’ videos so he could start practicing. Then by the time June visits next, he will only have to ask her about the steps he can’t figure out.
It would be another three days before June finally was able to get back to visit the bots. When her car pulled into the base, she was created with the sight of bulkhead wearing a scarf made out of red and white rope. Compared to the size of the bot, the rope actually did appear to be yarn. When Bulkhead noticed her arrival, he gave her a shy grin before tugging at one of the ends.
“Turns out crochet has become one of his new hobbies. He said I looked ‘cold’. I actually like it, reminds me of the scarves Miko wears.” Bulkhead told her, touching the scarf fondly.
June smiled widely “It looks good on you too. Red and white are your colors.”
Waving goodbye to the other, June walked through the base until she found Optimus. Calling a greeting out to him, June didn’t notice the hat until the boss bot turned around to echo the hello.
“I see he got to you too.” June laughed in joy as she could see the blue hat covering Optimus’s audials and helm just above his eyes.
Optimus nodded and looked up at the mentioned hat. “Ratchet has been quite busy since it’s been quite around the base. I think the hat matches my paint well, don’t you think?”
June nodded and waved goodbye to Optimus before moving over to where she saw Ratchet working on a black and yellow hat.
“Hey Ratchet. So I see you’ve been enjoying your new hobby.” June stated as she waited for a hand up from the other.
“You were right, it is quite relaxing. Agent Fowler has been humoring me by finding all the rope I need. Though after the first ball, he said I had to wind them up myself.” Ratchet lifted her up beside him before he continued to work on the new hat.
Moving closer to the other, June peeked at the new work in progress. Ratchet wasn’t the fastest but the work he was doing was quite beautiful. It surprised her how much he had achieved in such a short amount of time. Almost made her a little jealous considering it took her weeks to learn. Then again, Ratchet wasn’t exactly human. So instead she felt a swell of pride fill her up, knowing she helped the other find a new hobby.
“Well I have good news. I bought my own project so we can work together.” She said cheerfully before moving to sit down in her chair.
Glancing over at her, Ratchet gave her a rare smile before turning himself to face her. With that they continued to work side by side as the time slipped by.