Null Protocol || Ramattra x Reader

☙Chapter Nine❧

"Human." The voice sounded muddled, like (Y/n)'s head was underwater, and she mumbled something incoherent in response, curling up into a tighter ball on the icy cave floor. "It is time to wake up, human." Again it sounded like gibberish and her half-awake mind couldn't make sense of it, so she didn't respond. Something prodded her side and she squeaked, opening one eye to see a piece of meat hanging down in front of her face. "I thought you required sustenance." Ramattra's voice was low and insulted, like he took her sluggish responses as refusal when he went out of his way to get her a couple scraps of meat, but upon seeing food, her stomach woke her up with a whale call.

Her face flushed in embarrassment as she scrambled to sit up, and she swore she heard the omnic chuckle under his breath as she snatched the chilly piece of meat from him. "Thanks," she mumbled as she chewed. It was cold like it was just pulled from a snowbank, and while it wasn't too tough to chew through, every bite tasted like blood. Uncooked meat was extra juicy, and since the blood wasn't cooked out of it, the flavor made it obvious she was risking food poisoning for a chance at satiating her stomach.

(Y/n) crossed her legs, taking small bites to savor the first thing she'd eaten in what felt like years. Her stomach grumbled about it but she ignored it, too enthralled with finally eating to pay attention. Ramattra watched her for a moment before he shifted back into his crossed leg position against the cave wall. "The rest of the rabbit is at your feet. I assume you can handle feeding yourself." He made sure to emphasize just how much he hated helping her so she wouldn't get any ideas, and she nodded without missing a beat.

"It's mighty appreciated." The small chunks of meat rested on a pure white snow pile in front of her, chilled but still plenty tasty. She reached for another piece as blood dribbled down her chin, and she swiped it up with her tongue. "You dunk it in an ice bath?"

He scoffed. "I used the snow outside to freeze the meat so you would not have to worry about pathogens. Human digestive systems are fragile and the cold should have killed off most anything that could hurt you."

His forethought was touching, and she glanced around for where he left the rabbit's remains. "Where's the carcass?" The only evidence it even died was the meat clutched in her hands.

He used his staff to point towards the slit opening outside. "Discarded. I took great care in pulling the meat from its bones." Without any guts or blood on the floor, he must've been telling the truth. It was meticulous work to not harm the rabbit's guts, as its small bones could easily pierce the digestive tract and spill potentially harmful pathogens onto the pieces of meat, and she wondered how long it took him to fully break down the animal.

(Y/n) grabbed the last couple pieces of meat off the snow pile, walking over to sit beside Ramattra to enjoy the minimal warmth still radiating from his open stomach. He shot her a look she couldn't read but said nothing, instead setting his staff across his lap and clasping his hands together, interlocking his fingers with pointer and middle finger up. He dipped his chin, and the orb from his staff rose to float above his head, the nanites forming a ring around it so it mimicked Saturn. His position reminded (Y/n) of the monks at the temple and she wondered if he was meditating. The stress on his shoulders seemed to ebb away, whatever responsibilities he had day to day slipping from his mind, and she almost felt calmed by his presence too. For once, she had food in her belly and she wasn't worried about him killing her.

She tried to make the meat last as long as she could, and when she was done, she leaned back against the cave wall, shutting her eyes. The sun cast a single ray of golden light through the hole in the ice boulder and it still felt like early morning – Ramattra probably woke her up after he was as sure as he could be that she wouldn't get sick from eating the rabbit. It must've taken him hours to break it down, discard the remains, and chill the meat in the hopes to kill off pathogens, and she felt all the more grateful to him for it. He wasn't evil, closer to a shade of gray perfectly between black and white, and even though he claimed no human was innocent, part of her was beginning to wonder if maybe his mind had started to sway about her purity.