Null Protocol || Ramattra x Reader

☙Chapter Twenty-Four❧

McCree made for a silent guardian, and while it took some time to get over how similarly the warbot resembled Darius, it happened all the faster because it never once called attention to itself. It stood in the corner, still as a statue with barely a whirr of its engine to signal it was working. And that suited (Y/n) just fine as she poured all of her focus into fixing the mangled Nulltrooper. She experimented with different ideas she'd been rolling around in her mind for some time, all of which she would've tried on Omme had she not been so worried she'd irreparably hurt him. Ramattra claimed she was here to fix his warbots, and while she could both improve them and find a solution for Omme at the same time, Omme was her main priority.

Her thoughts drifted back to home much too often - whereupon guilt and sadness ate at her like a ravenous beast - and she did everything she could to ignore how hungry she'd become. There were some granola bars on the counter when she got here – the same brand as the ones she'd eaten up in the Himalayas – but she'd run out some time ago and she doubted the omnics would have a kitchen seeing as they didn't eat. So instead, she tried to focus on anything but. Her stomach, however, wasn't on the same page.

It whined like a beached whale, making her cheeks flush as she glanced towards McCree. "Sorry." The bot made no indication it heard her, and part of her wondered if it even had a functioning voicebox. "Must be nice never experiencing hunger, huh?" She would've loved to be an omnic right about now – funny that that wasn't the first time she'd thought that and it was for the same reason, too. The reminder of what happened in the cave made a spike of fear travel up her spine, and she wondered for a terrified moment if Ramattra had simply forgotten humans needed food and she'd have to go a long while without any again. But he knew so much about humans, their weaknesses especially, so how could that have slipped his mind?

"Zenyatta," she answered herself, understanding clicking into place. He was probably so distracted by the capture of his brother that everything else came secondary, and suddenly she felt bad for even thinking about herself when Zenyatta was probably suffering leagues more in Talon's claws.

"I ought to've packed something to gnaw on." A sigh escaped through barely parted lips as she glanced McCree's way. "McCree?" The bot perked up like it knew she was calling for it, and she spoke proper at it to make sure it understood her. "Do you know if there's any food on the ship?"

"Unfortunately, Rama doesn't like harboring such things when humans aren't supposed to be allowed on his ship to begin with." (Y/n) blinked, turning when she realized that voice didn't come from McCree – whose yellow eye light was pointed over her shoulder. Laylani walked in, immediately noticing the purple lei around the girl's head and letting out a soft hum that made it sound like she was fighting back a smile.

"Oh, um, hi." (Y/n) idly fingered the crown, completely forgetting it was up there. Her cheeks had grime and grease streaks, her hair was probably in desperate need of a shower, and she had no doubt she'd likely damaged the flowers by accident and ruined their beautiful purple color. Desperate to seem like more than a country bumpkin to possibly the only nice omnic aboard the ship, she cleared her throat and searched for a rag to clean up as she spoke. "Ram gave it to me when he left with Darius to see the prisoner – that Talon guy. I was just...holding onto it for him." Her feet refused to sit still, shame washing over her as she fidgeted with the lei. 

"I suppose he wouldn't look very intimidating with that on," the smaller omnic mused, hopping up onto the counter and crossing her legs at the ankle. "Though, in Hawaiian culture, giving another person a lei is a gesture of love." The air was suddenly sucked from (Y/n)'s lungs and she paled in silent horror at what she'd unintentionally taken from the omnic it was intended for. "And honor and respect," Laylani added as an afterthought, pretending not to notice the way the mechanic's head bowed in shame. "It suits you." (Y/n)'s eyes shot up in surprise, but Laylani's eye lights seemed to wink at her, noticeably amused by the change in ownership, not upset.