Chapter Text
He wasn't certain what exactly had compelled him to visit the shrine at such a late hour, but he heeded it's subconscious call regardless, quiet footsteps echoing slightly as he wandered the hallways toward it. Perhaps deeper down he felt he needed a bit of extra focus with his meditation? Something certainly had felt generally off during the past week, but that was no excuse. The shrine was located in a decidedly more open area of the monastery, and the weather in the mountains of Nepal was nothing to scoff at. His inner heating mechanisms could only do so much before his servos would begin to slow under the chill. The fact that the sun had long since set certainly wasn't helping that fact.
Yet still, here he was, letting this... What was it the humans called it again? A 'gut feeling'? Yes, that was the term. Here he was, letting this gut feeling pull him toward it, ignoring the common sense that told him he should return to his room for the night. There would be time for meditation in the morning, could it not wait until then?
No, his subconscious retorted, it could not.
He allowed himself to mull over the train of thought as he continued walking. He didn't need to actively watch where he was walking. Living in this place for a few years now had allowed him the familiarity of it's layout just as if it were the serial code forever ingrained somewhere in his databanks.
He was torn from his thoughts by a peculiar noise, steps stuttering to his halt as he focused on it. For a few moments he stood there waiting for it to return, but silence had settled in once more, and he continued onward.
That was, until it came again. Louder this time. Discernable.
A child in the monastery? Crying? At this hour?
It paused but did not stop, and he started walking again, quickening from his prior pace. The urge to go to the shrine had passed. He followed the sound instead.
It didn't take him long to find the source. At the base of the shrine - coincidentally enough - lay a small wicker basket, blankets bundled up within. Clearly an attempt was made at keeping the infant warm, but it was either not enough, or there were some other cause for it's disquiet.
He carefully took up the basket in his arms, turning and heading back inside. The infant quieted after a moment, though the occasional whimper could be heard. He quietly cooed to it as he walked, wondering silently about what was to be done here. However, that train of thought quickly ran his mind in circles. He allowed it to drift away, worrying only for the present and figuring that the child's situation could be settled in the morning.
Meditation could wait.