Null Protocol || Ramattra x Reader

Chapter Eight

When Ramattra finally remembered to speak, his gaze lingered on (Y/n) with a new emotion she couldn't place like he was almost embarrassed to feel it. "Then you are fortunate I am here."

"Very," she agreed, pinching her tongue between her teeth as she fumbled with the tiny wires in his stomach. "Dagnabbit, could they make these things any smaller??" She rested her forehead against his cool chest as she leaned over him, feeling it rumble with a silent laugh.

"They were made to keep pesky humans from fiddling with them." It almost sounded like he was joking, an uncharacteristically light note to his usually grim way of speaking.

She grinned, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand before resting her head more comfortably against him. "Good thing I've been doing this for years." Years of practice made her fingers nimble even with the residual chill of the cave, and she concentrated hard on mending the wires together by wrapping the metal ends together. As long as the electrical signal could make it across the severed gap, he could move his legs, and she'd already made plenty of progress on this particular step of the process so it wouldn't take much.

Ramattra lowered his staff so it was beside her head, allowing (Y/n) to see what she was doing as he hummed. "Tired, human?" He tilted the staff so it nudged the side of her head where it leaned against him for support.

"Just leaning on ya to keep balance," she replied easily. "You know, 'using you' like humans do." This time the chuckle was loud enough to openly leave his voicebox, deep and husky and rooted in amusement.

"I should have known you would reveal your true colors eventually."

"Oh yeah, as soon as you let your guard down." She leaned back on her heels so she could look up at him with a small smile. "Bamboozled ya, didn't I?"

He let out a short bark of a laugh, muttering "bamboozled" under his breath like the term was downright comical. "You cannot fool me, human."

"That's why I ain't trying, you'd see clear through me." She waved a hand in front of her face like she couldn't save face even if she tried. "Oh, I am joking, by the by, about the whole using you thing-"

"I am aware."

"Good." She pretended to wipe sweat from her brow as he studied her almost curiously with his head half cocked. "I just wanted to be sure." The last time she joked around like this, he hadn't been nearly so receptive, though this time there were minor inflections in his tone indicating he was playing along.

"I do know how to detect sarcasm, human." He rolled his head at her and she laughed.

"I'm surprised you know what a joke is."

"A what?" He tilted his head in confusion and she froze. The laugh that rose from him after a moment made her cheeks burn in embarrassment as she looked down. "You are easily fooled," he mused.

"I reckon that means you ain't gotta worry about me pulling a fast one on ya." Her hopeful gaze met his considering one.

"I have known this for some time. You are equally easy to read."

She let out a huff of air that lacked any actual discontentment. "Then why did you suspect me of harboring some ulterior motive?"

He leaned back against the cave wall, tilting the staff so it could better light his stomach. "Appearances are not everything, and as I said, my people matter a great deal to me."

Her words were released in nothing more than a soft whisper. "They're lucky to have you." Underneath all that bitter resentment was a genuinely caring Ravager that just wanted the best for his people, each step he took with a singular goal in mind: liberation of his people. She wasn't sure if she completely agreed with his methods, but if he truly had been at the Shambali Monastery for so long trying to find peace through peaceful actions, she couldn't exactly blame him for changing his approach.