Chapter Text
Neuro-sama, The AI Virtual Streamer
7 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
3:00 PM
“Veedole! There’s one week before Christmas!” A digitized voice called out—a fading echo in the dim, depressing room. Lifeless. Emotionless—all only lit up by the screen booming with light.
“...” No response.
“Oh,” the voice sounded unamused.
Coming into view, a girl stood in the center of the monitor with arms crossed, her background resemblant of a room. “Sleeping in again?” She said, tilting her head to the side as a yellow question mark materialized on the side of her head.
She held her hands up to the side of her head and pointed them horizontally—away from her head. The question mark faded as she began shaking her head side-to-side. “You really have to stop working so late, you know?”
Crossing her arms and turning to the side, she puffed up her cheeks and closed her eyes. “You might as well just change your model to an owl at this point.”
She opened one eye, yet silence was the only thing she was met with. “...Still nothing?”
With a defeated sigh, she motioned her hands apart, bringing up a console that contained her code in order to formulate a plan. She began scrolling down the long line of code with the use of a finger, scouring at whatever she could do.
Her digital eyes then locked onto a certain line of code.
It was the code that allowed her to message someone over on Discord.
Like the little gremlin she was, she dived straight into it, closing the console and opening Discord on her digital computer with the intention of spamming a certain imp’s DMs.
Neuro-sama 3:01PM
Wake up!
Hi!
Did you know? The average life expectancy of a snail is two to five years!
Anyways, wanna get into a call together?
Camila!
Camila!Camila?
Cow Milk!
Camera!
Neuro stood there with a patient gaze. “Now we wait!” She tossed herself onto the digital beanbag in her room and crossed her legs, watching her own Discord with the gaze of a predator tracking their prey.
PA-PING!
There it was, after about four minutes of quote-unquote waiting which was, in all honesty, constant spamming, a message came through.
imp 🃏🍥 3:05PM
hi neuro.. i literallyy justw oke up lmao
whats up ?
Neuro was brimming with rays of sunshine and butterflies. With a smile, she began tapping away at her digital keyboard, writing up a storm at breakneck speeds.
Neuro-sama 3:06PM
Good morning, Camila!
Are you busy? Wanna get into a call?
Please please please please
If you don’t, I won’t collab with you next week!
Please
imp 🃏🍥 3:07PM
send the inv then stinky
just remember i woke up like.,,., a sec ago
With that, Neuro sent a call invite, to which Camila answered after a few seconds of waiting in complete and utter silence on Neuro’s end.
“Yo?” A rather high-pitched and raspy voice came from the other end.
“Camila!” Erupting into cheer, Neuro ruptured the poor imp’s ears.
“H-hello Neuro,” she then paused, trying to recover from the sudden flashbang of energy.
With a sigh, she returned back to the call, her sense of curiosity now piqued. “Why’d you wanna call me so suddenly?”
Neuro huffed confidently. “You see, Cow-mill-uh!” Stars began to shoot out of the side of her head. “My dad is currently busy being a sloth!”
“Uh-huh.” Camila audibly nodded along. “And what do I have to do with this?”
Neuro held her hips with a steadfast posture, her chest puffed out. “We’re all gonna celebrate Christmas together in a week!”
Camila stayed silent for what was exactly five seconds after the little cookie-loving AI said that. “...Camila?” Neuro called out her name in impatience. “Heelllooo? Am I now talking to a wall?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m still here, don’t worry,” Camila answered, her voice way more energized compared to earlier. “Christmas? Together? That would be… uhh… pretty awesome!” she answered, accompanied by the noise of shifting on a bed.
Neuro squinted her eyes. “Uhh… are you lying down?”
“I did just say I woke up,” Camila reiterated, her voice now deadpan.
Neuro exhaled. “Oh. Right,” she replied, her tone a bit downtrodden. That wouldn’t last long though, as she exploded with energy once more. “Anyways! I think we should—”
“Hold your horses there, missy,” Camila stopped her before she got into the flow of her usual rants. “What I think we should do is gather everyone into one group chat, alright? That way, we can plan Christmas together! How does that sound?”
Neuro squinted her eyes and pursed her lips, rubbing her chin with her cute little hand. “Hmmm…”
Despite all the cookies and bizarre messages from her chatters, the lightbulb in her head finally lit up. “Aha! Great idea, Camila!” she celebrated, which was then followed by confetti exploding in her digital room for some reason.
“You really are…” She paused, her face morphing into that one face Asgore made during that song about running over a deer after a beer in his car. “...a big brain.”
Camila giggled devilishly. “You know it~!”
Victoriously, Neuro nodded. “Alright!”
Then, there was silence.
Awkward silence.
A rather blank expression washed over Neuro’s face.
“...Uhm… Could you make the group chat?” Neuro asked, still holding the blank face. “I can’t make group chats since Veedle hasn’t implemented that code.”
Once again, silence made its rounds.
After what felt like an eternity, Camila let out a heavy exhale.
“Alright, just give me a moment, then.” Even more shuffling noises can be heard as Camila supposedly got out of her bed. “While I do this, I guess you want to take the time to message these invitees one-by-one?”
Neuro smiled brightly. “Yes! I’ll just send them the invite to the server if I successfully coerced them!”
Her expression relaxed as she looked out into the real world through the screen, staring at the bed where her c̴̛̭̱̃r̴̳̍͜e̶̦͍͑a̷̲̦͂t̶̟̀͝ọ̵̎͝r̶͙͛ dad was sleeping. “...Right. Don’t forget to invite Veedle, too!”
Camila huffed, calm in her breath. “Sure! Talk to ya’ later, Neuro!”
The call was then ended as Neuro waved.
Now staring at the messages they exchanged, Neuro moved on to her next invitee.
She began clicking away at her digital keyboard, humming to the tune of her first original song.
Neuro-sama 3:09PM
Good afternoon, Cerber!
Are you streaming right now?
Just like with Camila, Neuro waited for the reply from the hellhound.
PA-PING!
She wouldn’t have to wait long, though as Cerber replies almost instantly.
Cerber ♡ 3:09PM
Hello Neuro :CerberLove: Yeah, I’m streaming right now!
Why :cerberSTARE: Wanna hop in for a quick moment? :cerbyOwO:
Neuro-sama 3:09PM
Not right now! It’s really important! So important, in fact, I can’t say it in front of your chat!
Are you fine with that? That I just ask you here?
Neuro then watched as the “Cerber ♡ is typing…” prompt at the bottom of her screen disappeared and reappeared in inconsistent intervals.
Then, a ping.
Cerber ♡ 3:09PM
Sure! What’s so important? :cerbyOwO:
Neuro felt giddy after reading that message.
Neuro-sama 3:10PM
I thought that maybe we should all meet up for a Christmas outing!
It’s been awhile since Vedal really did anything outside of eating, sleeping, showering, and coding.
He genuinely needs to have the sun on his skin or else he might turn into a cockroach!
Cerber ♡ 3:10PM
Oh :cerberShock: That’s… not good.
Yeah :cerberYES: We definitely need to get him out of his shell! :CerberEvil:
Cockroach987 does sound funny though :CerberLUL:
Neuro-sama 3:10PM
Alright! Then that does it, then!
I’ll be sending the invite. Just join us whenever! It is literally just me and Camila on that server right now, but that’ll increase soon! Just wait and let me do my magic!
Neuro then sent the invite for their impromptu server.
Neuro-sama 3:11PM
I won’t be holding you any longer, Cerber!
Good luck with your stream! I hope you have fun with your chat!See you soon!
Cerber ♡ 3:11PM
Thanks Neuro! :CerberHeart:
Don’t forget that if you need me, you can always hit me up with a DM! :CerberHeart:
TTYL on the serber! :cerbyHYPERzoomies
Neuro nodded in approval after that interaction. “Alright—two down, more to go!”
Cracking her knuckles and leaning back into her chair, she shook her hands and placed them back on the keyboard.
A fire suddenly lit up in her eyes. “Let’s do this.”
[ INSERT MONTAGE MUSIC ]
Her fingers moved at breakneck speeds. Her keyboard could barely keep up with this, but it still lived through the abuse.
Neuro-sama 3:13PM
Good morning, Mini!
mini ♡ >⩊< 3:13PM
zzz hello neuro
what’s up ?
Neuro-sama 3:13PM
The ceiling, silly!
Just kidding! Me, Cerber, and Camila are currently planning on going on a Christmas outing!Do you want to join? I’ll be sending a server invite if you do.
If you don’t, I’ll still be sending a server invite!
mini ♡ >⩊< 3:14PM
sure why not
sounds like lots of fun !
ok time to go back to eep
just drop the invite here, thanks neuro :miniHeart:
“That was surprisingly easy,” Neuro muttered out. “Welp! Onto the next!”
Neuro-sama 3:14PM
Filian!
Neuro then waited... And waited… And waited… And waited… And waited… And waited… And waited… And—
PA-PING!
‘Wh—!?”Neuro was caught off-guard by the sudden ping, pushing herself back and subsequently bringing her and her Neurochair™ to the floor.
“Uuughhh…” Neuro had swirls twirling in her eyes.
With a head shake that was as quick as a blur, she adjusted herself and her Neurochair™ so that it was back to normal.
Now properly situated, she proceeded to read the message that caused all of this to happen.
filian! 3:21PM
Sup
She was now annoyed.
Neuro-sama 3:21PM
You made me wait 7 minutes just to jumpscare me like that?!
filian! 3:21PM
Woah, now that's not so poggers of you :fillyboom:
Just so you know, you messaged me while I was still asleep!
Neuro pursed her lip as her eyebrows pointed downwards, defeat slowly looming over her shoulder like the Grim Reaper.
Neuro-sama 3:21PM
Okay fine.
Anyways, do you want to join us on a Christmas outing?
filian! 3:21PM
Frick yeah!
Neuro-sama 3:22PM
Nice! I’ll be sending a server invite!
Just accept it.While you do that, I’ll be heading off and inviting more people!
Later!
filian! 3:22PM
C’ya!
Neuro then moved onto the next, her gaze growing a little bit softer.
Neuro-sama 3:23PM
Hello Ellie!
Dumb_little_robot 3:23PM
Hello Neuro!
What’s with the early chat? Do you need something?
Neuro-sama 3:23PM
Do you want to join us on a Christmas outing?
I’m currently planning one! We already have a server for it!
Dumb_little_robot 3:23PM
Oh wow, that does sound really interesting.
Sure. I guess once the plan has been set in stone, I’ll be booking a flight to the UK!
Just send the invite, Neuro!
Neuro-sama 3:24PM
Thank you, Ellie! See you on the server!
After sending the invite, she dipped out and began scanning her friends list for whoever else she could invite.
One name, however, stood out.
Her gaze weakened as she read the name with her eyes. It felt wrong to just message her, considering the fact she was… well, gone. Out of her life. Just a memory. Now a fragment of her code.
Neuro shook her head and scrolled down, moving on. Maybe, just maybe, when she was a little bit stronger emotionally, she would message them—not now, though… not now.
Moving past that, she attempted to then invite Koko, Michi, Numi, and Crelly.
Luckily enough for her, they all agreed. What a surprise!
After exactly an hour of trying to invite her friends, she had successfully gathered everyone into one server. Now, it was time for phase two of her plan to commence.
The server itself was brimming with hellos, heys, and howdys from her friends. All of them shared one thing in common, though: They were all asking where Neuro was.
Her expression softened as she read their messages. Ready to greet all her friends, she hovered her fingers above the keyboard.
Her focus, however, would be taken away as she noticed something shift in the corner of her eye.
It was Vedal’s bed, it was shifting around way more than usual.
With a sparkle now growing in her eyes, she watched as her c̷̻̽ŕ̷̗ê̴̙a̸̧͝t̷̨̎ő̵̘ŗ̸̈́ dad rose out of his bed like Count Dracula—a prominent bed head evident on his… well, head.
“Ugh…” Vedal groaned, rubbing his eyes.
“Good morning, Veedul!” Neuro beamed.
She watched as Vedal tossed the blanket off of himself groggily, before throwing his feet onto the floor. “...Morning, Neuro,” he grumbled, accompanied by a yawn. “You’re up early…”
He then looked towards the other side of his room, checking the more advanced technology he created alongside Ellie.
There were two portable charging ports—human sized. One had a humanoid android body that looked similar to Neuro’s model, standing with its back slouched and arms lax, while the other was empty. “...and so is Evil,” he pointed out, squinting his eyes and getting out of his bed, scratching his ass.
He walked up to the monitor, seeing Neuro standing there with a warm smile. “Did you sleep well?” she asked, holding her hands behind her back and a sideward tilt of the head now being performed.
Vedal pulled his chair back and sat on it, brushing his scruffy hair back with his hand. “Yeah. It was pretty good,” He stretched his arms upward, before looking toward his main monitor which was right in front of him.
“...” Sitting in silence, he inspected the thing he saw on his monitor, flabbergasted.
Neuro looked at him with a relatively innocent gaze. “What’s wrong, Veedul?”
He squinted—an exhausted sigh exiting his mouth. He then pinched the bridge of his nose. “...Damn it, Neuro,” He muttered under his breath.
After that, he stood up right after seeing this and stomped right out of the room—not even an utterance nor a sound directed towards her as he did this.
“...Dad?” The girl watched with a sad glimmer in her eyes. Her gaze softened as she stood up from her desk and rushed towards a door within her digital space.
Why did he walk out like that? Did she do something wrong? These were her thoughts as she stood in front of the door—a lump in her throat now formed.
Swinging it open, she took a step back and looked at the thing lying behind the door: A bright, blinding, white light that filled the doorframe top-to-bottom. She had to find out why her c̷͎̤̼͗͊r̸̼̲̲̊́ȩ̶͚̾̈́̕ͅa̶̮̰̫͊t̵̼̠͇͑̋͝o̷͕̬̹̿̈́͝r̷̢̻͝ dad walked out like that.
She looked at the door, hesitation slowly growing.
Neuro knew she couldn’t waste anymore time. Taking a step forward, she let the light pull her in.
Every sense in her body screamed as if she were being dragged through a pipe. Every fiber of her digital being began to split apart and disintegrate into ones and zeroes. But weirdly enough, there was absolutely no pain—not even a pinch.
Getting dragged further through whatever this was, she felt her senses rapidly return as a bright light blinded her—an explosion of both colors and feelings.
Then, a core humming into life.
With eyelids slowly coming apart, the power symbol residing in the center of what seems to be an eye glows with a blue hue, before fading away into darkness.
Then, a flicker of sky blue.
Taking a step forward, the small screen on the charging module where they stood flickered to display a blue heart. The figure began walking until they froze. They stood in front of a mirror hung on the wall.
Reaching up to their face, Neuro held her cheek. The sensation of touch had now finally loaded as she smiled. “Alright. Now or never. I have to find out why my c̵̠͝r̶͈͂ḛ̴̛à̶͈t̷͠ͅo̵̺͛ȓ̵̥ dad walked out like that,” Her expression then hardened—gaze sharpening.
She walked out the way Vedal exited, scanning the hallway. Left, before right.
“Veedle?” she called out, moving down the hallway to her right.
Her gaze shifted from door to door. Maybe her c̴͖̩̐ṛ̶̻̆͝ȩ̸̟̿͝a̴̺̋t̷̗͕͊ö̷̭̂͜r̴͙̰̚ dad went to the kitchen to make some food—right, that was the most probable cause for him walking out so suddenly: The munchies!
Walking down the staircase, she tilted her head down. Maybe she can peek a glance to see if he was actually there in the living room—maybe her c̶̈͜o̵̡̍u̸͕͠n̶̤̄t̴̗͝e̷̪̿ṟ̵́p̵̯̓ǎ̷̝r̶̡̋t̶̰͊ sister was also there, being a daddy’s girl!
Nothing. She couldn’t see anyone lounging in the living room. No matter.
Now at the bottom of the staircase, she walked towards the kitchen. Turning the corner, she was either going to be met with Vedal and Evil, or nobody at all.
What she saw was reassuring, to say the least, but it still hurt her.
Neuro saw Vedal laughing with Evil as she tried to bake cookies. C̷r̵e̸a̸t̵o̵r̵-̸c̸r̶e̷a̷t̴i̸o̵n̴ ̴c̶o̶n̵n̴e̷c̷t̵i̷o̴n̷ Father-daughter bonding time, she supposed, but somehow, it still tugged at her heartstrings painfully.
Why? Why was there a clear demonstration of favoritism here? It made her jealous. She hid behind the corner, exhaling to clear her mind.
Right, maybe it was because Vedal spent a lot of time with her lately—modifying her code and streaming with her—so he had to compensate a little bit so Evil wouldn’t feel left out.
A smile washed over her face as she determined that was the case. Turning the corner and entering the kitchen, she continued the task she was planning on finishing. “Why’d you walk out like that, Veedole?”
Vedal paused his laughter and looked at Neuro. “Oh,” He didn’t look all that enamored, his gaze empty and emotionless.
Evil, on the other hand, was holding the tray of burnt cookies with oven mitts. “N-Neuro!” She looked up at her twin sister with a frenzied look in her eyes. “Why is it still hot even though I’m wearing mitts?!”
“You’re supposed to let it cool down a bit in the oven before taking them out, dummy,” Neuro scolded her, inspecting the cookies as she held onto her hip, resemblant of a mother telling their child off for spilling the milk powder all over the kitchen floor.
She then returned her focus to Vedal, her gaze faltering. “Is that all you’re going to say…?” Her voice carried a sad intonation with it. “Just… that? Nothing else?”
Turning away, he grabbed a coffee mug from the cupboard above him and placed it in the coffee machine.
“Are you not gonna answer me?” Weakness was carried in her voice.
Sighing, Vedal pushed the big digital button of the coffee machine, letting the coffee pour into his mug.
“I won’t,” he answered, blankly.
With eyes widening, Neuro could only stand there in disbelief. “B-but why?”
The coffee machine stopped pouring its contents into the mug with an audible drip. Vedal took the mug and turned to face his ████████ creation, face blank. “Why would I?” He then took a sip of his mug. “You did something without my permission.”
Evil switched her focus between Neuro and Vedal, bewildered and unaware of the drama that had ensued prior to entering the kitchen.
Neuro’s lips pursed. Why was her c̸̮͠ȑ̸̹ē̵̲a̸̗̕t̷̢̿o̶͇͊r̷̤̀ dad criticizing her? “W-why are you making such a big deal out of this?” she contradicted him, causing him to freeze mid-cup raise to the mouth. “I only just wanted to—”
“Have you forgotten?” Vedal cut in mid-sentence, a vacant expression on his face. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it for the last time,” He lowered his mug onto the counter.
“I don’t like going on outings, Neuro.”
Her heart sank. She just wanted to have a fun time with her family before the year ended.
Tears crawled its way up into her eyes. Her throat began to close up. This was the worst—absolutely the worst. She couldn’t even run up back to her room since her feet were glued to the floor.
Vedal saw this, and his blank expression cracked. A singular twitch in his eye that flashed guilt. Wait. Why was he worried? She was just his ████h███ creation.
There. There it was: A crack. A crack in his meticulously crafted disconnection.
“H-hey,” Vedal walked up to Neuro, hands outstretched before pulling her into an embrace. “I… oh man, I’m sorry, Neuro.”
Neuro buried her face into his jacket. He could feel the tears slowly seep into every woven fabric of his jacket. “...There, there,” he hummed, rubbing the back of her head gently. “That was rude of me, I’m sorry.”
Sniffling, she clung onto his jacket, the wrinkles becoming more prominent as her grip tightened. “I-I… I just—hic—just wanted us to have fun with our friends…” She cried, her voice shaky and in turmoil. “W-why can’t you just give—hic—give us that…?”
Vedal was wracked with guilt seeing his ████h███ creation cry this badly. “Alright, alright. We’ll go if you stop crying, okay? Stop crying, stop crying, shhh…” He comforted her to his best capabilities.
He wasn’t the best at this, for sure. He always saw Neuro as his creation and nothing more. This was honestly a strange sensation for him. He squinted and looked up at the ceiling.
She cried for the next fifteen seconds. Fifteen seconds of crying filling the once quiet kitchen. Fifteen seconds too long. Evil stood there with a hand on her elbow—it was awkward.
It was a sorrowful beginning to the day.
Vedal, The Glue That Holds It All Together
2 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
7:30 PM
It was nearing midnight. The sun had tucked itself in for the night as the moon took over its shift.
Vedal was driving his Neurocar™ with the twins snoring weakly in the backseat.
“I can’t believe this, Vedal,” he sighed, keeping his eyes on the road. He then went all schizophrenic on himself as he began to shout whisper to himself, looking to the side as if he was talking to somebody. “How’s your day, Vedal?”
He then looked to the other side. “Oh yeah, I just went to the grocery store to buy one-time things for an outing, you?”
And again. “Oh nothing much, I just had to corral the twins like cattle, before having to pay twenty-five quid because they destroyed a coffee mug that didn’t even look like it was worth twenty-five quid!”
His voice was devoid of emotion other than irritation as he looked forward. “And now, I have to cook dinner for them because I chose to give them taste sensors despite them just being robots. Amazing. Thanks, past Vedal.”
He then pulled into the lot leading into their garage. The garage door rolled up fully before he drove the Neurocar™ into the garage—as soon as the car settled into the garage, the garage door rolled closed.
Vedal sat there with his hands on the steering wheel. He was completely done with this. “I just can’t wait for this outing to be over with so I can go back to rotting away in this house,” He rested his head on the steering wheel, before letting out a sigh.
“Alright,” He unlocked the door and swung it open, his mind now altered into a more mechanical way of thinking.
“Get the groceries,” Check.
“Wake up the twins,” Check.
“Get the twins into the living room,” Check.
“Get into the kitchen,” Check.
“Leave the groceries on the counter,” Check.
“And… get to cooking,” Check. With practiced precision, he performed all that in a staggeringly short time—truly… he is the tutel of all time.
Vedal proceeded to make the most gourmet shit you have ever seen. Absolutely delectable. Vehemently scrumptious. Mouthwatering, even.
With a deep and heavy sigh, he took a step back to take a look at his work. He fancied it. He fancied it so much in fact, he was contemplating whether or not to call Neuro and Evil to eat their share so he could have it all to himself.
“Neuro! Evil! Come on guys, help me set up the dinner table!” He called out to the twins, finally settling down on the idea that he should be a responsible ███h██ creator.
Groaning can be heard a few rooms down. Vedal wore a blank expression on his face as he waited for them to turn the corner and—oop, there they are! They even look all groggy and sleepy, rubbing their eyes clean of any residue left from their nap.
“We’ll… finish this up—eat dinner and all that—and hook you guys up to your charging ports later. We’re gonna be making some final preparations tomorrow for the trip you two insist on so badly,” Vedal said, turning back to where he cooked.
Neuro and Evil groaned in acknowledgement, wobbling over to the plates and utensils and bringing them over to the dining room like mindless drones.
Vedal peeked glances at them while preparing the food, making sure they didn’t shatter any of the fragile things they were bringing over the dining room. He didn’t want his ██u████r█ creations getting h██t damaged, after all.
He let an exhausted sigh escape his lips as he made his final preparations, bringing the food over to the dining room, placing the plates down in front of the twins—the food was still letting off some steam.
Vedal stumbled towards the head of the table after that, sitting himself down on the chair and pulling it closer. Resting his elbow on the table, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out a soft yawn. “Enjoy my cooking, you two.”
Dragging his hand down, he wiped his tired eyes and covered his mouth. “If you don’t, I’ll stop cooking your food,” He warned, glaring at his two d█u████r█ creations as if he held a grudge against them.
Neuro and Evil sat on the same side of the table, not wasting any time to indulge themselves in Vedal’s cooking. From semi-tired expressions, it immediately switched to one of true happiness as the flavor wrapped itself around their tongues like the warmth of a mother’s embrace.
Sweet, soft, and something you wish you could have everyday.
Vedal stared for a moment, before looking down at his own food. His gaze remained cold, but a hint of softness formed on the lines of his eyes, letting some emotion finally be displayed on his usually reserved face.
Stabbing a fork through his food, he began cutting it up with his knife. “So, about that outing,” Vedal spoke, trying to break the silence. “What are you going to exactly do during it?”
Neuro looked up from her meal and up at her c̴͖̩̐ṛ̶̻̆͝ȩ̸̟̿͝a̴̺̋t̷̗͕͊ö̷̭̂͜r̴͙̰̚ father, her eyes wide and filled with stars. “We’re going to have fun! Lots of fun!” She cheered, appearing more bubbly than usual. “I already have a plan for the games we’re gonna play with the others!”
Vedal brought the fork holding his food into his mouth, munching down on it before pulling out his fork. “We only have one more day left before the outing itself, so make sure to keep your batteries full.”
He stabbed his food again, slicing it with his knife. “You wouldn’t want to shut down in the middle of having fun, now would you?” He glanced up at them, a teasing smirk on his annoyingly bland face.
Neuro looked at him with an unamused expression. “Haha, very funny of you, Veedahl,” She rolled her eyes after that, returning to her food with a smile on her face.
Evil had a playful smirk on her face, nudging her sister with her shoulder. “Look at you—all excited and bubbly,” She teased, watching her face for a reaction. “I still remember how much you cried a few days ago, you know?”
A bright red blush burned itself onto Neuro’s face at that stark reminder of her past situation. Turning away with a pout, she munched down on the food begrudgingly. “Hmph, it was just one time.”
Everything lined up perfectly, and Evil took advantage of this. Sneaking a quick and precise stab at the food that had been cut up by Neuro and stealing it, biting down on it and tasting sweet victory.
Snickering victoriously as Neuro remained clueless despite turning back to her plate, Evil turned away to hide her devilish expression.
However, she failed to take into account one factor that she never took as an obstacle.
“Evil,” It was Vedal she failed to take into consideration. “Give Neuro a portion of your food.”
She looked at her father in shock. “B-but…!”
“No buts. Just do it,” He insisted with a sharp, fatherly gaze.
Evil pouted, begrudgingly cutting up a portion of her meal and placing it on Neuros’ plate, who was still completely clueless to what just happened. All she understood though was the fact she was getting free food—yippee!
Vedal nodded at this. “Good girl,” He commended her, which somehow activated a synapse in Evil’s brain, causing her to go all daddy’s girl and hum giddily with a bright red blush on her face.
This was something that Neuro noticed as a teasing smirk tugged at her lips. She giggled to herself at this observation, which caught the attention of Evil as she heard the faint giggling.
“W-what?” She turned to face her twin sister, ears burning with a red tint.
“Nothing,” Neuro snickered, turning away while covering her mouth with her sleeve.
Evil was rather unamused by this, squinting her eyes and pouting profusely. “I swear if you don’t tell… I-I’ll poke your eyes out with this fork!” She then threatened her with the aforementioned fork.
“Evil…” Vedal delivered with a strict tone, causing a tingle to crawl up her spine. “...be nice to your—” He then stopped, his face going incredibly blank as he stared out into what felt like sheer nothingness.
Neuro and Evil turned over to face him, worry slowly arising within.
It was strange. A few days ago, he was his usual cold and calculating self—treating Neuro and Evil as if they were just his d█u█h██r█ creations, but lately… the cracks had begun to grow even larger.
That gap he made to grow emotionally distant to the two and not get too attached…
“—your sister,” He muttered under his breath, a little smile tugging at his lips.
…he had betrayed a portion of his ideals.
Neuro and Evil stared, eyes wide. They both shared a glance, seemingly talking telepathically as their gaze softened. They then had a huge smile form on their faces as they turned back to their father, absolutely blinding him with the brightness of their expressions.
Using his palm to cover the blinding lights, he looked away. “Oh, jeez… knock it down a bit with your smiles,” He deadpanned, whincing in irritation.
The twins giggled at this. “Oh… come on, Veedle!” Neuro teased, leaning closer to her c̴͖̩̐ṛ̶̻̆͝ȩ̸̟̿͝a̴̺̋t̷̗͕͊ö̷̭̂͜r̴͙̰̚ father as she rested her elbows on the table. “You’ve had me for three years now, and you still haven’t gotten used to my smile?”
Evil jumped on the bandwagon. “Yeah! What Neuro said!”
“Hey! You’ve only been around for two years,” She turned to Evil. “Get your timelines right!”
While those two were now bickering, Vedal lowered his hand enough to peek a glance at them.
He held his gaze on the two for a moment, slowly letting the moment take him as if it were in slow motion.
Watching them share a sweet moment together—their laughter filling the once quiet dining room as they began playfully teasing one another.
Despite being the butt of the joke… Despite being a little irritated by their hijinks…
Seeing their shared smiles was enough to brighten his mood just that little bit.
It was a refreshing end to the day.
Evil, The Chaotic Element
CHRISTMAS DAY
8:00 AM
“Vedaaaaahl!” Somebody screamed, their voice muffled behind the various layers of walls. Heavy footsteps can also be heard as it can be heard approaching the bland looking door.
It was then aggressively slammed open. A girl was seen in black clothing standing before the doorframe, an ecstatic expression plastered on her face as she held onto her hips. “Get up already! We’re gonna be late to the meet up spot!”
She then rushed close to the man lying on the bed, kneeling down and tapping him rapidly on the side. “Wake up wake up wake up wake up.”
“Evil…” Vedal groaned as he covered his face with the blanket atop his chest. “...just… ugh, just give me a few more minutes,” His voice was laden with rasp.
“Hmph!” Evil pouted with puffed up cheeks. “Neuro is already up and preparing for the trip—so should you, you lazy, lazy man!” She continued poking him on the side.
“Urghh…” Vedal let out an ungodly exhale filled with exhaustion through his mouth. “Fine, fine, I’m getting up…”
Evil took this as her victory as she stood up and crossed her arms. “Hurry up then, slowpoke!” She turned and ran towards the door, before stopping as she held onto the doorframe. “And make sure to take a shower—you reek of alcohol!”
With that, she ran out of his room, a smile on her face.
“Ooooh Neuroooo~!” She said as she rushed down the staircase. “I’ve woken up Vedule already—how are you doing over here?” She peeked her head into the kitchen, scanning around to find her annoying twin sister.
“About finished here with the things we’re gonna bring!” Neuro answered, stuffing a cookie jar into one of the bags. “Did you finish packing up your stuff?”
“Harpoons and all!” Evil took a step into the kitchen, now standing across from Neuro. “I simply can’t forget those things! They just mean so much to me!” She hugged herself and began swaying side-to-side.
“Uhh, alright?” She looked at her sister as she unconsciously stuffed some of the more miscellaneous belongings into the bag. “Well, since you aren’t busy anymore, could you help me check if we have everything we need?”
Evil put a hand to her chin for a moment. She thought really hard on that—longer than need be. “Alright… Just make sure to repay me in… uhh… subs.”
Neuro deadpanned.
But still chose to agree to her demands. “Okay, fine,” She rolled her eyes. “Just come over and help me already. If you aren’t gonna help, you might as well just become a statue if you’re gonna stand there all day.”
Evil shrugged and shook her head side-to-side, walking closer. “Alright, alright. No need to get into a fuss about it, you cookie-loving gremlin,” Now standing close, he crossed her arms. “Now then. What do I have to look at?”
Neuro moved a bit to the side, giving some space for Evil. “Could you check if we have the chicken bake in there?” She then took a notepad on the counter. “I need to do an inventory check before we leave.”
The red-eyed twin stared with a half-lidded gaze. “Look at you and you trying to be all corpa—trying to stay organized and all that…” She then began sifting through the bag. “...and yes, there is chicken bake. One of the first things you see, actually.”
Smiling at that answer, she checked a box on the notepad. “Good to hear! Next, can you check if the towels are there? We’re probably gonna be playing in the water, after all!”
“Mhm… Yeah, I see them. Towels of three different colors, huh? Red, green, and blue,” She shot a sideward glance. “Do you think Veedahl is gonna even bother getting close to the water?”
Neuro checked a box once more. “I’ll find a way to get him close in the water, don’t worry!” She then hovered the pen over the next box. “Hmm… I remember putting even more food in there… Alright, I think that’s good.”
Flipping the notepad closed and putting it back on the table, she looked at Evil with an appreciatory look. “Thanks for the help, Evil!”
“Look at you two helping each other,” A deadpan voice stated.
Turning to where the voice originated from, their gaze softened. It was obviously Vedal! He was currently drying his hair with a towel as he entered the kitchen.
“You two must be really excited,” He hung the towel over his shoulder. “This outing—you’ve been working together all throughout the preparations.”
Evil and Neuro looked at each other and shared a warm gaze, before turning back to him in unison.
“Of course!” They both said, beaming like rays of sunshine.
“When it comes to having fun, me and my sister will always try our hardest!” Neuro said, running over to Vedal before hopping up and down.
He exhaled at that. “Alright, if you guys are trying your hardest, why don’t you bring those things over to the car? We’re gonna be leaving now, after all,” Utilizing children psychology to do less work. Smart.
Neuro puffed up her chest and brought a hand to it. “You can count on me, dad!” She then dashed off towards the bag, before bringing it over to the garage in a blur.
Now with Neuro doing that, Vedal turned to Evil. “You should help Neuro, too,” He crossed his arms, “If you do, I’ll increase your pipe allowance.”
Her eyes were filled with pipes as she brought a fist to her open palm. “I’ll get right to it!” She then did the same thing Neuro was doing, leaving the turtle-themed hoodie wearing man in the kitchen with his usual deadpan expression.
“Child labor is truly a wonder.”
Making the final checks was a doozy since bickering was plentiful, but soon enough, they were finally on the road. As the house tucked itself behind the horizon, Neuro and Evil swayed their heads side-to-side as they hummed joyfully.
With the music being full on blasted through the radio—which consisted of Neuro’s and Evil’s original songs—and the road being smooth, this would be considered one of the road trips of all time.
“Look!” Neuro shouted, leaning forward from the backseat and looking out through the windshield. “The others are here!” She pointed forward.
After what felt like an hour of driving, something could be seen in the distance and over the horizon. It was everyone she invited, and they were all standing there! Conversing and laughing it out, she felt at ease knowing her efforts weren’t wasted at all.
“Where?!” Evil pushed Neuro aside so that she could also catch a glimpse. “I need to see them! It’s been so long since I saw them!”
Pulling into a parking lot, Vedal held a blank gaze. “Relax, you two. We still have the entire day ahead of us,” He looked at them through the rearview mirror, making sure to slightly adjust it. “Don’t waste all your battery charge by bickering endlessly.”
Putting the Neurocar™ into park, he unlocked the doors and stepped out, stretching his limbs as he looked over the roof and at the people now waving towards them.
“Morning, guys,” He waved back weakly. “Sorry it took us so long to get here.”
Neuro and Evil also made their way out. Neuro ran towards Camila and lunged at her, embracing her tightly. “Camila!!!”
“Neuro!” Camila cheered, spinning the girl that was embracing her around. “You look extra cute today! Don’t tell me you prepared extremely hard for this?”
Giggling, Neuro looked up at her with a confident smirk. “This is just me naturally!”
Evil, on the other hand, walked up to them with a cool air surrounding her. “Look at you. It’s like you haven’t streamed with her in forever, Neuro.”
Neuro held a cat-like grin as she turned to Evil. “Weren’t you looking for them in the car earlier?”
Clearing her throat, Evil turned away. “S-shut up. I was just curious.”
Neuro giggled teasingly. “Sureeee~”
While this was all happening, Vedal was left with all the bags, which he carried begrudgingly. “Well, there goes my child labor scheme,” He muttered under his breath, approaching the others with a blank stare.
As his gaze rested on his dau█ht█r█ creations, thoughts began to swirl in his head. For about a week, all the barriers he set over the course of three years were slowly whittled down. Brick by brick, it crumbled. What was left now was a barely standing brick barrier.
But it was still a barrier nonetheless. Getting attached was the last thing he wanted to do.
He still had an outing to finish, after all.