A World Beyond Our Own | TFP AU

15 || Comfort

Taylor sat in silence. Her hands moved about, sorting herbs into piles. She had taken up the task since Ratchet wasn't well enough to do so himself. The silence in the den would be more bearable if he was sitting there beside her. When he would sort herbs, she'd hang out with him and have occasional quiet conversations. He wasn't much of a talker, so she respected his boundaries and usually let him trigger the conversation. But without him there, she had no one to talk to but herself.

With a heavy sigh, she sat upright and rolled her shoulders. Her back and neck ached from being bent over for so long. She leaned back to glance at the den opening, seeing that sunlight was already filtering into the den. That meant it was time to start making the medicine for Ratchet's wound.

Optimus had shown her what to do the day they had brought Ratchet back and she had been doing it every day for the past week. It was tiring work. Ratchet usually didn't say anything, nor did he move. Taylor almost began to think he was dead until she noticed the steady rise and fall of his flank.

The poultice itself was rather easy to make. All she had to do was mix equal parts of marigold and horsetail together and smash it into a paste. The hard part was getting it to the right consistency. Ratchet made it look easy when he did it. Then again, all he had to do was chew it up for a minute or so. She couldn't exactly do that and get the same results, so she resorted to using two rocks. She would lay the herbs out on a flat rock and use a somewhat round rock to mash them together. It took around ten minutes and by the end of it, her arms had gone numb.

After taking a small break, Taylor carefully scooped the poultice into a large leaf. She pushed herself to her feet with a soft grunt and shook out her legs a bit since they had fallen asleep. Before she left, she quickly scanned over the herbs to make sure they were all organized.

The main den was silent, aside from the occasional drip-drip of water in the corner or the crunch of the dirt beneath her feet. She rounded the corner, expecting to see Ratchet curled up where she last left him. To her surprise, he wasn't there. She darted over to his moss nest and crouched down to press her palm against its surface. It was still warm. He hadn't left that long ago.

Standing up once more, she swiveled around on her heel to search the den with her eyes. Where could he have gone? There was only the main den and the herb storage. Unless...

"Taylor."

Taylor nearly jumped out of her skin, the leaf sliding sideways in her arms. She quickly gathered herself so she wouldn't drop the leaf. Her heart felt like it was beating a million miles an hour as she turned her head to look at the entrance. Ratchet was standing there, a hare in his jaws. How long had he been there?

"Y-You're awake?" She sputtered, staring wide-eyed at him. "What... what are you doing?"

"The others were out, so I decided to get myself something to eat." Ratchet replied nonchalantly, slowly padding into the den. He went past Taylor and sat down on the moss nest, laying the hare at his paws. "I haven't eaten in a week. I just need something small."

"But.. well...." Taylor fumbled for words, not sure if she should be happy or upset. "I could've gotten it for you!" She finally said, slightly pouting as she frowned at him.

Ratchet released an amused snort as he laid down in front of her. "I thought you didn't like to touch dead things." He said, a hint of sass in his tone. He began plucking the fur from the hare with his teeth.

"I— Whatever!" Taylor huffed, rolling her eyes since she couldn't throw her hands in the air. She sat down across from him and set the leaf in her lap.

She watched him pull tufts of fur from the hare's carcass until she felt a bit nauseous and had to look away. She continued to pout, pretending to ignore him to see if he would notice.

He did notice, he just acted like he didn't care. He often did the same thing to the hatchlings when they were upset about something. Taylor was different, though. She wasn't a hatchling. It honestly amused him that she was acting like one, though.

"Stop pouting. You're acting like a hatchling." He murmured between tufts of fur, shaking his head to rid himself of it.

"Well you're acting like a mom."

Ratchet blinked, then huffed and returned to his meal. "Touche." He muttered. Curling his tail around himself, he got comfortable before delicately tearing into the hare's flesh. Things were quiet while he ate. It didn't take long for him to finish, which only left room for more awkward silence. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "Look, I've been through worse than this. There's nothing to worry about."

Taylor looked at him for a second, then directed her gaze back at the wall. She chewed a bit on her lip and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well I did worry. You scared me. I thought you were going to die!" Her voice rose as tears began welling up in her eyes.

"Taylor—"

"No! You're going to listen to me!" Taylor cut him off, unaware of how loud she was being. Her voice trembled with emotion as more tears streamed down her face. "I thought you were going to die! I thought I was going to lose my best friend! Don't just say that there's nothing to worry about, because there is! I was worried sick about you and you didn't even know it! Do you even care about how that made me feel?!"

Ratchet stayed silent, flinching when she burst into uncontrollable sobs. She was right. It hurt him to see her so upset, but he didn't know how to express what he was feeling. He was too afraid to try. No one had ever made him feel this way except for Taylor and he didn't know how to handle it.

After a few minutes, he pulled himself together and brought her in close with his paw. He let her cry against his chest and, after hesitating for a split second, dipped his head down to gently nuzzle her cheek.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, closing his eyes. "I've been a fool.."