Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

Under Nirvana - An ARK

Chapter 14: Romance Rejected

Story by Bria!

Find the last chapter in PHOENIX and the next chapter in ONYC!

Neddy and Ruby sat near the crackling fire they had put together with the sticks Neddy gathered. The two scholars twirled the Ichthyornis meat over the fire with a hefty-sized stick. The meat slowly cooked, turning a more smokey brown. Charcoal was beginning to form at the bottom of the firepit.

“This is… relaxing,” Neddy said, trying to find the right words to say. He looked up at the sky. The sun was already beaming down on them quite hard, but despite this, the red fireflies seemed to glow brighter than any other light in the nearby vicinity. Ruby cautiously looked around every few seconds when the wind would pick up, making the leaves rustle.

“Believe what you wanna believe,” Ruby muttered. “We can’t let our guards down so easily. This forest isn’t exactly safe. You know what’s in here.”

Neddy frowned. He still hadn’t forgotten him and Borealis’ encounter with the raptors that almost took their life. He nervously rubbed his bare arms ashamedly, disappointed he had let it go so easily. He wasn’t nearly as strong as Borealis, or as useful as Ruby. He had to prove his worth, or he’d be left behind in the dirt.

Ruby glanced back at the meat, inspecting the color of its roast. Ever since Neddy had lended his glasses to her, she had been able to see things much much more clearer. Neddy’s prescription was even better than Ruby’s, it seemed.

Still, she knew she couldn’t see everything.

And she didn’t want to fall into irrelevancy. She didn’t want to be a background character.

After a few seconds of silence, Ruby pulled away the stick from the fire. The smell of the cook carried through the winds gently. Neddy took a whiff, almost drooling.

“That smells nice,” Neddy commented. Ruby handed the kebab to Neddy first. He looked down at the stick in shock. Ruby stuck a few more slabs of raw meat on a second stick and propped it up against the fire.

“You should eat first,” Neddy declared. He tried handing the kebab back to Ruby, but she refused to take it. Neddy pulled the stick back. Ruby glanced at Neddy, her eyes softening.

“Do me a favor. Save up your energy for later, when we need it. I’ll need all the help for whatever bloodthirsty dinosaur comes our way next,” Ruby said, turning her attention back to the fire. When the sparks came to a halt for just a second, Ruby tossed another piece of firewood in to reignite the flames.

Neddy slowly began to frown. He took a hesitant bite of the meat. It tasted a bit charred and burnt, but he didn’t mind the taste at all. It was definitely better than anything he could ever cook. Neddy chewed slowly, savoring the duck-esque taste before swallowing. Ruby looked at him as he bit a second piece off.

“How is it?”

Neddy chewed a bit more before swallowing. He looked back at Ruby with a grin.

“It tastes really delicious.”

Ruby squinted her eyes, not buying a word he said. “Be honest.”

“Sorry,” Neddy apologized. “It tastes a bit overcooked. But, I still like it.”

Ruby cursed under her breath. She ripped a few blades of grass from the earth with one of her hands, leaning in closer to get a better view of the meat. A bead of sweat formed at the edge of her hairline as the heat boiled over her face.

“I knew I was getting rusty,” Ruby murmured. “I should have known. I’m such an idiot. I shouldn’t have let it sit so long on one side.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Ruby looked back at Neddy, unamused. “Don’t flatter me.”

Neddy looked at the campfire uneasily. “Well… it’s not like you’ve got the greatest equipment on you. I’m sure if you had access to a grill or something it’d taste fabulous.”

“A chef shouldn’t need fancy tools to be good at what they do.”

“True,” Neddy agreed. “But I think most people can agree that it’s necessary for a chef to have good equipment if they really want to make the tastiest food.”

“Oh really? Well what if I told you that wasn’t the case?”

“What do you mean by that?” Neddy asked, leaning in to hear better. Ruby patted the grass next to her, beckoning him to come closer. Neddy scooted over, and Ruby began telling a story.

“Okay. So it’s the finals for the cooking tournament. I’ve heard rumors about my opponent. His name was Carlos Ramsay, or something like that, but the point was that he was a really good cook. And when I mean, I mean really really good.”

Neddy nodded, his eyes pinned to Ruby’s as she ranted.

“The worst part was that nobody knew what his style was like. He came all the way from the west, and I was never too familiar with their teachings. I hear they always prioritized gourmet over anything else, so I was worried because I knew the judges were definitely gonna favor that over my street style.”

“So was that how he cooked?”

“Yeah. Definitely. My guess was correct. But there was one thing I learned when I saw him work in the kitchen,” Ruby pointed out. “It was the way his hands moved. They were so stiff and mechanical, like he was some sort of robot. Like he didn’t actually want to cook what he wanted to cook. I think he was even looking at a recipe too during the competition.”

“That’s allowed? It’s a cooking tournament!” Neddy protested.

“It is. It could be your own recipe, so it’s allowed. And if it isn’t yours, then you’d only be purposefully failing. You’ll never master a recipe that isn’t yours,” Ruby continued. “But looking at him, I could tell he wasn’t passionate in the slightest. It was as if all his love for cooking had been sucked away already. So I knew I could use that to my advantage.”

She pulled the meat away from the fire in an instant. A bit of steam was coming off of it. She blew air on the kebab to cool it down.

“I cooked something which I thought would cater to the judges. Some good-old fashioned Mexican food– a hefty burrito. I made sure not to use too much of the equipment that had been given to me either. The more authentic the taste, the more I knew they’d love it. I was a bit worried, since it had been such a long time since I cooked something foreign, but I pulled it off well enough. The judges loved it.”

Ruby smiled. “The look on his face was priceless. It’s hard to describe now. It was like a mixture of amazement and nostalgia and admiration all mixed into one… I remember he tearfully came up to me after I got my trophy and shook my hand, thanking me for ‘making him remember who he was’. I guess it makes sense. But the point I’m trying to make is that anyone can be great, even if they don’t have the tools, even if they don’t have anything fancy backing them up. Some people just want something real, after all. And sometimes, the basics are better.”

Neddy grinned. “You’re gonna have to show me that trophy when we get out of here.”

Ruby’s smile faded. “Yeah… I do.”

She looked back, her smile quickly returning. “Hey. What do you say you become my cooking assistant? You taste test my foods, see what I need to do to improve them, then I perfect my recipes even more. If I master the flame, without the pan, I think I can really become great. I might find my love for it again, like that boy did when I competed against him.”

Neddy raised his hand to shake. “Deal. Anything to taste your goods.”

The two shook hands. Ruby expected a clammy piece of flesh, but it was surprisingly warm and cozy, as if the fires had toasted them lightly enough to be more welcoming and sincere. Ruby smiled.

“Perfect. And what I say still holds true. Anyone can be great, even if they don’t have the tools,” Ruby said. “That includes you.”

Neddy blushed slightly in embarrassment. Ruby let go of his hand, taking another bite out of the kebab. Ruby propped up another meat stick on the fire. Neddy watched it hungrily as it toasted again.

And so for the next few moments, silence filled the air again. The red fireflies were still there, and the sun was still beaming, yet something seemed to have shifted between Ruby and Neddy. Something a bit more sincere– something a bit more genuine, as she would have put it.

Something real, unlike the manipulative Borealis or the performative Nova.

“Hey,” Neddy blurted. Ruby looked up.

“What’s up?”

“You… well how do I put this? Every time you and Borealis talk, it seems like you have some past. Some past that’s uh– not very fun.” Neddy squirmed when Ruby looked down at the grass, her face darkening.

“Uh oh. I shouldn’t have said that,” Neddy thought in horror. Ruby sighed.

“I only knew him because of his old lover,” Ruby said, her body tensing up in anger. “I was friends with her. She was a girl with hopes and dreams. She always tried her best to do the right thing, not just for others but for herself. And Borealis was always pushing it. I hated seeing it. It was like he was so obsessed with the idea of living a perfect future with her that he’d do whatever it took, even if it meant stripping her individuality.”

Ruby gritted her teeth, her fists clenching.

“And then she got that lung cancer. It was so weird. She was spitting up flowers. None of the doctors knew what it was.” Ruby’s voice shook, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “And what did Borealis do? He left her. She was devastated… her condition only worsened from there on out. I still remember the nights at the hospital, holding her hand, trying to tell her it’s okay… even when it wasn’t. Even though I knew she couldn’t be saved.”

Ruby brushed the back of her hand along her eyes, trying her best to cover up her tears. Neddy didn’t know whether or not to reach a hand out to comfort her. He simply kept his arms by his side, trying his best to listen.

“The worst part is how he acted afterwards. He pretended to care. He cried, can you believe it? It was so disgusting. After everything he did, he thought he had the right to cry.” Ruby bit her lip so hard it began to bleed. “He’s a snake, Neddy. And I hate how he got away with it. She should have been the valedictorian, but–”

Ruby wiped at her eyes again, her body heaving up and down, whispering curses under her breath. She muttered, barely audible, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that. I just ruined the mood, didn’t I? I’m sorry–”

“No. It’s okay,” Neddy firmly declared, taking a deep breath, his heart racing. He didn’t know what he was feeling. It wasn’t pity for Ruby. No… it was hate. Hate for Borealis. “It sounded like you really needed to say that. I understand. I don’t think– I don’t think it’s fair either!”

Ruby laughed hollowly. “It’s funny… even now he’s still using people.”

“He’s using you too,” Ruby whispered so quietly Neddy couldn’t even hear.

Neddy scooted closer. “If you truly think so… then working with him is the wrong choice. We’ll find a way to split from him as soon as possible. I’ll… I’ll try. I know Nova will definitely be okay with it! But I promise you, Ruby. He’s gonna get what’s coming for him one day. One day he’s gonna know what it’s like. He’ll see what he’s done to you and to your friend.”

“Th– thank you,” Ruby hiccuped, leaning in closer to him. “Thank you Neddy…”

“Do you need a hug?”

“Sure…”

Ruby naturally fell into Neddy’s touch, her face into his lean shoulder. Even though Neddy wasn’t the most muscular, Ruby still felt comforted. At least he was real. At least he cared, unlike Borealis. Background character or not,

She was glad she had someone to tell how she really felt.

~

An hour later.

“We’ve made it,” Bria said, pushing past a bush. “Oh hey. Looks like we’ve got company. They’re–”

Nova gasped at who she saw. She let out a soft “Ooooooh”. Borealis looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“What is it?”

Nova squealed, pointing at the two casually chatting about something none of them could hear. “Look at those two. They’re so cute together! They look like they already have a lot of chemistry.”

Nova subconsciously reached for her pocket, trying to take her phone out to snap a picture, but her face dropped when she remembered that they didn’t have any on them. Borealis leaned against a tree, slightly captivated by the scene unfolding.

“Oh,” Bria realized, staring at the two. “These are your allies?”

“Yes. That’s Ruby and Neddy. Gosh, isn’t this amazing? Maybe we should leave them alone like this more often,” Nova said, looking at the quiet Twinkle. Twinkle rolled his eyes at Nova’s comments.

Bria shrugged. “I don’t really see it.”

“If you don’t see it, then maybe you need to take these off,” Nova said, poking at her sunglasses. Bria swatted her hand away defensively.

“Agree to disagree, I suppose.”

“Hmph. Allow us not to waste any time further gossiping. I am above such juvenile behavior,” Borealis interjected.

“Whatever you say, walking thesaurus,” Nova giggled, rushing up to Ruby and Neddy with a bit of a skip to her steps.