Tangible (Yandere Elijah Kamski x Reader)

Seven

Hours passed, and he hardly paid them any mind. Elijah was in one of his mindsets, the kind where absolutely nothing could break his concentration.

Well, almost nothing.

"Elijah, I'll be back later, all right?" Waiting nearby, Rebekah watched her son typing furiously, engrossed in whatever was being reflected in his glasses. "... honey."

"--huh? Oh, uh, you're leaving? You need any help?" The teenager slid off of the kitchen stool, but footsteps made him pause.

"That's all right, son, I've got everything taken care of." With a kind look in his eyes, Carl Manfred smiled at the kid, but his eyes narrowed a touch. "Your mother tells me you've got some making up to do with a young lady."

Plopping right back into the seat, Eli nodded, exhaling loudly. "Yeah. I... screwed up really bad but I'm not 100% sure how to make it up to her."

Glancing back, the older gentleman gave a pointed look to the teen's mother. "Five minutes?"

"Make it ten, Carl. He really needs to apologize to her." Rebekah smiled but glared at her son regardless.

"Oof. Elijah, how bad are we talking?" Carl stood beside your creator, gazing at the endless coding on his laptop.

"Um... well..." He was incredibly hesitant.

"Okay, then, if you're not comfortable with explaining details, that's fine. How about this: scale of one to ten? One being you forgot something important to her, ten being you forgot her name."

"... Fifty."

"I'll say a few kind words at your funeral," the gentleman replied, chuckling and squeezing Elijah's shoulder. "Well, with that being said, if you want to make it up to her..." He paused, eyebrows meeting in the middle, then asked, "Is this young lady the one you created, son?"

"Vi, yeah. She's... she was originally my assistant. Now she's a hell of a lot more than that, and... I fucked up so bad, Mr. Manfred." Hanging his head, his fingers got tangled in his long locks.

Carl nodded wisely, thinking it over. "Everyone, no matter the gender, age, race, or form, can appreciate beauty."

By the time Eli could let his words sink in properly, the gentleman had left, escorting Rebekah out for some sort of day date, most likely.

...... Beauty.

[ 01010110 01001001 ]

"We weren't sure if you were coming in..... to... day......." Bryan trailed off as Elijah suddenly threw the front doors open like a bat out of Hell. He immediately went to the giant monitor, plugging in his laptop and adjusting his glasses while the lab downloaded all of his careful coding.

The rest of his team of researchers all gathered around him; watching the young man when he had a fire under his ass was always something amazing, and this was going to be no different.

"Something came to me this morning," your creator spoke up, eyes never leaving the monitor. "You all know my Vi. She works incredibly hard along with the rest of us. Well, I... hurt her bad last night, and I've been up all night trying to figure out how to apologize to her." The downloading was complete, so he unplugged his laptop and turned to his team. "As of this moment, Vi has no tangible form. But as a being like any other, sometimes she needs a safe place to go to. To de-stress, to hide, to relax... any number of things. Right now she is hiding in my system because of my stupid mouth, but..." With a deep, unsteady breath, your creator turned back around. With a few taps on the keyboard, the giant monitor filled with imagery.

Please, Vi... Please come out...

There were murmurs of praise among the rest, but Eli merely cupped his elbows, gazing up at the Zen Garden he'd created for you.

Beside him, Bryan put a hand on his shoulder. "This looks amazing. Will it work when she's in a body?"

Elijah nodded, quickly letting exhaustion set in. "Once we get an android body functioning the way I envision, yes. The Zen Garden will be somewhere for them to mentally escape. Something to bring them peace, I hope."

Yet there was nothing in the way of a reaction on your part. He wasn't even sure if you were aware, but you were practically omnipresent. Stomach dropping, the teen could barely stop the corners of his mouth from dropping.

Vi, please come back... I don't know what I'm going to do if you're gone...

"... Vi?" Your creator spoke loudly, his team all falling silent. "... Vi, I know I hurt you. No amount of apologizing is gonna make up for what I said. I'm a jackass, and I don't deserve you. But..." Pulling the glasses off, he wiped his eyes and tried to hastily swallow the stupid lump forming in his throat. "Vi, I'm sorry. I'm so, so fucking sorry. I can't do any of this without you. I told you that you're my favorite creation, and that's never going to change. And I know it isn't much, but... I... I really hope you like the Garden I've made for you. When you have a body, I'll customize your Garden even further. I'll do... a-anything... j-just come back... please........"

And there was still nothing. The tears fell with alarming speed, and all your creator could do was lower his head a little.

[You don't need to cry for me, Elijah.] All at once your concerned expression came into view, the frown gentle but present. [This is... beautiful. I am certain it was intended to be enjoyed physically, but the view alone is lovely, so... thank you.]

Now that the tears had started, they kept pouring, but the teen managed a smile regardless. "I just... God, I'm a terrible person, Vi."

[You are not terrible. Far from it. One bad moment will not stain your lifetime of good, and I am flattered that you find me worthy of being apologized to so vehemently.]

The other researchers had vanished for the moment... not that Elijah noticed. "Vi, you don't get it. You're not just my assistant; you've evolved far, far beyond that. I don't even know if I have a word for you, honestly."

The frown had disappeared already, but now you were slowly beginning to smile again. [I have a word for you, Elijah.]

Wiping his face, Eli froze. "A... word for me? Like... what I am to you?" When you nodded, he managed to chuckle, unsure why his heart sped up for a second. "Okay, let me guess. Asshole?"

[No. Too many letters.]

"Oh, is this a guessing game? Okay, then. So seven is too many letters. What about four?"

[Not enough.]

Interesting. "All right..." Stroking the facial hair on his chin, his azure eyes looked away for a moment. "Shot in the dark: six letters, right?"

[Precisely.] Your smile widened a touch.

"... well, I suppose asshat is six letters."

When you laughed, the sound was soft and fluttery, and for some goddamn reason his heart did the skipping thing again.

Am I just super overwhelmed with relief that I didn't lose her, so now I'm overly happy with her presence? It makes sense.

[It's not a derogatory word, Elijah. Six letters. Very easy.]

After a couple of seconds, your creator's smile spread. "Genuis. I... thank you, Vi. I know a lot of people have said that to me, but... I mean, coming from you, someone who is just constantly becoming more intelligent... that means a lot. So thank you."

Bewildered, your violet eyes blinked. [While I am not denying your being a genius, that was not the word I had in mind, I am sorry.]

What? "... so what am I, then?"

[Friend.]