"What it's like to be Vtuber?" Phoebe paused for a moment, her mind racing to find the right words. It was odd, as her face contorted to a smile yet she still looked slightly frustrated; a clear contrast to her usual aloofness. "It's... I don't know how to describe it..." She adds, grabbing her head as Zeke pulls out a bottle before getting himself a glass of water.
"Are you having fun with it, though?" Zeke asked after taking his medicine, walking back to the sofa with Phoebe in tow. "You get to play and sing in front of hundreds of people, is it fun?"
"Yeah! It is! It's kind of like I'm just sitting in a room with a few friends." Phoebe's expression shifted suddenly, now brighter than before. "I got to meet so many nice people because of it! Oh, I should call them up again soon. It's been a while." Zeke chuckled, seeing his new friend act uncharacteristically gung ho. "What's so funny?"
"It's nothing. You're just usually so distracted and distant, seeing you like this is kind of a nice change of pace. Now you're acting like how you are when you send me messages." He said, leaning back in his seat as he looked at her from across the small coffee table. "Don't you ever feel pressured by it though? Like... having that many people watching you..." He asked.
Meanwhile, taking shelter from the chilling evening winds inside of a small bakery… "Well, of course, it's something that gets to me, especially when I started." Tabatha sighed, taking a bite of a strawberry danish that was in front of her. "It's not like I was used to having that many people looking at me, who would be?"
"I guess you do have a point..." Betty chimed in, taking a sip of water as she looked outside. "It sure is windy this time..." She added as they saw someone struggle against the breeze, nearly slipping and falling against the sidewalk that was slick with ice. "But yeah... Unless you were already kind of famous, it does take some getting used to. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, it's nothing..." Leslie replied, looking out at the sky. "It's just... I found out my best friend is actually somewhat famous..."
"Somewhat?" Betty chuckled, faking a small pout.
"And I got kind of curious... Like maybe I'd enjoy it too... but I don't know..." Leslie continued, her phone buzzing with notifications that she checked on her lock screen. With a smile, she pocketed the device and got up to walk to the counter. She placed an order, returning back to the table with a box of assorted pastries. The moment she sat down, Betty reached out for the box, only to have her hand swatted away. "Hands off, this is for Zeke." Leslie hissed, though she had a little smile on her face. "But pick one and I'll pay for another." She added, letting both of them pick before she returned to the counter and got more pastries.
"Why so generous all of a sudden?" Betty asked, taking her food and chomping down it voraciously. "Commissions?" The only reply she got was a small nod. "That's great!" Betty yelled as a car drove by.
"Oh, if you don't mind, then can I take one of your slots?" Tabatha chimed in, pulling out her phone to look at something. "I know we already talked about this, but I want to give someone a gift." She added, nodding to affirm herself. "How does 5000 sound?" She said, getting everyone to drop whatever baked good they were holding to stare at her.
"That's way too much!" Leslie argued, eyes wide in shock and mouth agape in disbelief. "T-There's no way I'd be able to charge that much!"
"For once, I'm on her side." Betty added. "Are you sure you can do this? It's for Phoebe, right? I know that we're friends, but…"
"Phoebe's still young, she's going to have a hard time making enough money to pay for this..." Tabatha pocketed her phone, returning to her half-eaten danish and turning her attention toward Leslie. "So…"
"..." Leslie thought for a moment, her mind wanting to accept it but her conscience told her that she shouldn't. "I... are you sure that you can afford this?" She asked, trying to buy herself more time to think.
"Me? Yeah. My album sold quickly, and that's not even including the digital purchases. I'm fine, don't worry about me. So, do we have a deal?" Leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table.
"Wait a minute! You know my prices… why are you paying so much more than what I charge?" Her face flush with blood and her head throbbing from having to think so much, Leslie leaned back and took a deep breath.
"Why? Because you should charge more. Betty showed me some of the models you've done, and I agree with her. That, and I want it done relatively soon…" Tabatha looked at her food as she finished it, her hand reaching for her own glass of water. "With the release of that music video, I noticed that she's been feeling down. And it only got worse when you said that you're getting a 3D model too. Phoebe's streams weren't exactly the ones that are full of energy, she's a more calm and soothing person compared to the two of us. But lately she's been more somber." Turning her head toward Betty, she sipped her drink. "It's only natural that people get envious when they see others they thought were their equal suddenly rise and attain new things."
"I… see. I can't really blame her for it, I think I'd feel the same way too." Betty replied, lowering her head. "She does a good job of hiding it though." She added, trying to laugh it off. Leslie shut her eyes for a moment, remembering the first time she met Phoebe, back on that shopping trip. With a resolute stare, she looked over at Tabatha.
"I'll do it. And since it's for Phoebe, I'll do it for fr- ow!" She said, her momentum stolen by a flick to the forehead from Betty.
"What did we just say about you and your prices!?" Betty yelled as softly as she could, getting a chuckle from Tabatha.
"You really are just Mizuna, even off stream." She said before a thought crossed her mind. "Actually, can you share some progress on the model?" She asked, getting Betty to sit lean in closer to Leslie as the latter scratched the back of her head.
"Well… I'm only around a tenth of the way done…" Leslie pulled out her phone, going to her gallery to get a few screenshots she took of her work. "I've only really done the upper half the way I wanted it… I'm still working on the lower half. But I did try to experiment with some colors already… though, nothing is final…" She said, showing them the pictures. "I've been…"
"You did all this in a night, didn't you?" Betty looked at her with a deadpan expression, getting Leslie to quiver in her seat. "Oh my… you ought to take breaks every once in a while, you know?" She moved closer, placing her hands on Betty's shoulders and shaking her violently. "How many hours of the night did you spend on this?"
"Around… 5…" Leslie replied, looking up with fear in her eyes at an annoyed Betty. "... maybe closer to like… 12…"
"Did you even sleep?" Tabatha asked, looking mortified at what she's hearing. "Leslie… what the fuck…" She blurted out as the wind died down outside.
"Looks like it's calmed down outside." Zeke said, holding a warm cup of tea in his hands. He smiled, looking at the TV where he set up an old VOD from a vtuber. "How much longer do you have?" He asked, looking over at the girl that was staring intently at the screen.
"Maybe like… an hour or so." Phoebe said, her attention fully taken by the vtuber. "Sola-nee… I miss her streams." She added, watching as Sola booted up the game for that stream: a calming game where all she did was plant crops and tend to a farm. Though her voice was sad, Phoebe seemed less melancholic than Zeke expected.
"Hey, Phoebe. Why do you stream?" He asked, placing a hand on his forehead and feeling the warmth pass onto his palm. He frowned a bit, knowing that things will only get worse despite this new medication that he'd just ingested. "I remember you saying that it was to carry on someone else's dreams, but… That seems…"
"Yeah… there's more to it than that." Phoebe replied, twirling her fingers around each other as the video being played on the TV gradually had its volume lowered. "But… I can't really say it. It's a personal thing. I'm sorry."
"No problem. I was just thinking of maybe starting up my own channel…" Zeke blurted out enthusiastically before his voice died back down to a more subdued and sad tone. "But that probably won't be happening anymore. I might be moving out of the city after all."
"Wait, you're moving?" Phoebe looked over, her face its usual apathetic mug and her voice the usual monotonous sounding one that she brought with her; contrasting with the concern of her word choice. "Is everything going to be alright?"
"I don't really know. But I think it's more likely than not. Can you tell our other classmates, if it actually happens that is…" He added hastily, trying to contain himself and hiding his eyes away from her. Zeke looked at his reflection in his glass.
Through the brown surface of his tea, beyond the ripples that distorted his vision, was a face full of conflict. A bit of sorrow in his eyes as he waited anxiously for the day that he'd leave everything he's worked toward here, trace amounts of relief perforated his frown knowing that he'd ease Leslie's burden, yet the frown still remained as a sign that it was also going to be painful for her to see him move back. "I will." Phoebe's voice got him out of his little trance, getting him to look at her as she wore a forced, subdued, and morose mask on her face. "And, if it does happen, you're always welcome to talk to me if you need to."
"You or Nebula?" He asked jokingly, letting out forced chuckles as Phoebe stopped to think.
"Is there a difference?" She asked, reclining back into the sofa as Zeke returned the sound of the video. A few minutes passed and Zeke was about to doze off when Phoebe's phone began to ring. "Hmm? Yeah, it's that address. You're nearby? Alright, I'll see you soon."
"Your parents?" Zeke asked, watching as Phoebe collected what little things she put out of her bag.
"No, but my sister is going to come and pick me up soon." Phoebe smiled. "You know, Zeke. It's been nice getting to know you a little better over the past few days. We should hang out in school more often after this." She added, her smile widening as she did one last check on her things.
"Yeah, I think so too. And, well…" He paused for a moment, contemplating his next words. "You look a lot better when you smile and laugh like you did today. I've got to ask, why don't you always do it?"
"Well… it's uhm…" She said, turning away as a knock came to the door of the apartment. Phoebe, being the one closer to the door, and the one that wasn't wrapped up in a blanket for their health, opened the door, finding her sister on the other side. "You were a lot closer than you made it sound, Sam."
Sam looked at the room, finding Zeke in a burrito-like state on the couch. "Is that your boyf-"
"Oh, hello Phoebe." Walking down the hall just outside, the cold air blowing past her face, Leslie arrived with Betty beside her. "How's Zeke?" She asked, giving a courteous nod over to the older of the two sisters before she felt Betty brush past her arm.
"It's uhm… nice to meet you again." She said, taking a few seconds to examine Sam's physique and posture.
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" She replied, looking over at Phoebe before taking a few steps back to give them more space to enter the abode. "Thanks again. The jam was delicious." She smiled, walking away with nothing else to say. Phoebe followed, wearing a smile on her face and waving goodbye to Zeke one last time through one of the windows.
"Hmm… she really does seem familiar to me, I just can't quite place it…" Betty mumbled to herself as she and Leslie greeted Zeke for the evening. "I'll go and have a look at it ahead of you, if you don't mind." She said to Leslie before entering her room, leaving the two siblings to talk with each other for a while.
"So, how're you feeling?"
"So, mom called earlier…"