✨In my Transformers era ✨

- He's surprised you're all still alive. Expect his respect for you to spike monumentally. Experiencing all of this and simultaneously helping others deal with it? Worthy of praise.

- It's not just respect for you that's growing. Spending so much time with the Autobot medic causes him to lower his defences. He tells himself that it's just medics respecting medics, but even he knows that's just an excuse. It comes to a point where both you and Ratchet just have an unspoken understanding with each other. Medical emergency with one of the others? One look at each other and both of you know what to do.

- It terrifies everyone else. They're under the assumption that Ratchet somehow found a way to telepathically communicate with you (except for Raf: he knows exactly what's going on but refuses to tell the others).

- The first one to understand what's going on between the two of you is - surprise surprise - Optimus. The Prime knows his old friend well, and Ratchet's obvious improvement in mood didn't go unnoticed.

"Ratchet, you... appear to be in quite a good mood recently."

"Do I? I suppose it's because you lot haven't been getting injured as much."

"Perhaps, but that was not what I was referring to. I simply meant that you seem more pleased ever since you began learning about humans."

The medic paused, the tool in his servos falling still. He let out a deep vent before responding.

"I... know more than I did before. [Name] is a good doctor."

"I see. Perhaps you-"

A crash sounds throughout the base. Ratchet looks up indignantly, conversation forgotten.

"Bulkhead! I needed that!"

- Ratchet himself is slow to understand how he feels. He knows that he trusts you, and that he's more tolerant of humans in the base, but the time it takes for him to understand that he's in love? You could wave a flag with the writing 'I'm madly in love with you' in his face and he'd just swat it away, telling you to stop messing around. The only way he'll understand himself is if other bots (and humans) start telling him how he feels. Especially Optimus.

- After a long, arduous period of Ratchet understanding his feelings, he'll finally get that he's romantically inclined to you. Now comes the fun part: Making peace with it. The medic was convinced that Primus was playing a cruel joke on him by making him fall for a human. It's not xenophobia at play, it's despair. He knows how little a human's lifespan is. You taught him that. Was he really going to have to watch the only person he'd love be lost to time?

- For a number of reasons, Ratchet would never confess first. He'd think it was selfish to take what little time you had when you should be growing old with a human partner. It's also because he believes that you'd never like a mech, much less a mech like him. The medic's relationship with you was already wonderful. He didn't want to ruin it by letting his feelings get in the way.

- In the case that you do confess first, Ratchet would pause for a very, very long moment, before shutting himself away from you for a few days without a word. On one servo, he's relieved that you feel the same. On the other, he still feels it's selfish to be with you, and that you deserve better. He ends up becoming much more quiet than before.

- Optimus feels the need to de-escalate ASAP, urging Ratchet to come to terms with the fact that he does want this relationship while simultaneously letting you know that the medic did feel the same way, and simply felt that you were probably mistaken in your own feelings.

(This is why we stan Optimus Prime in this household)

- A few days of persuasion and you and Ratchet finally have the most awkward relationship talk known to man. Congrats! It's official. Everyone's surprised at your new relationship!

...Or at least, you assumed they'd be.

"June? I thought I'd let you know, but... Ratchet and I are a thing now."

"[Name]... I know."

"Yeah, I know it's surprising, but- huh? Did Optimus tell you?"

"No offense to you, [Name], you're really smart and all, but... I knew ever since you gave me a de-briefing on Cybetronian anatomy."

"That talk was informative, June!"

"Uh-huh... well, congrats! Tell Ratchet I said hi."

- You'd think only June would react this way. Nope. Everyone. Bumblebee? Just gives you a thumbs-up and a bunch of whirrs that made Raf giggle. Bulkhead, Jack and Raf? A very strained congrats with the occasional slip-up. Arcee and Miko, on the other hand?

"Oh, finally?"

"Arcee!"

- In a relationship, Ratchet would be gruff but gentle. He'd be stern if you ever hurt yourself, though the worry would bleed through his tone like Energon. He'd be incredibly careful with you; having learned human biology from yours truly, Ratchet's now hyper aware of anything that could hurt you around the base.

- PDA isn't really his thing. It makes him feel odd. He'll grumble a little if you're affectionate in front of others, but he won't stop you. In private, though, he's willing to be a little more vulnerable. Ratchet will never admit it, but it makes him feel safe.

- Speaking of being safe, he lets you drive him to work. He's an emergency vehicle, so nobody pays him any mind. It makes him feel better about being there just in case Airachnid (or any other Decepticon) wants to try you... again. Ratchet isn't exactly a fighter, but he's not half-bad with a weapon.