Vicky and Valen

>In a dark room, two androids rest in their charging stations
>A Botler in his, cleverly designed like a barber's chair, the headrest "plugging" into his head
>A Nandroid in hers, endearingly designed like a salon chair, the hair dryer on top "plugging" into her head
>They sit in silence, motionless, memories of the previous day being recorded to their backup hard drives in their stations
>While "sleeping," they see those memories and older ones flash by
>The Nandroid catches a scene of a young boy playing in the snow
>With a smile wider than you could imagine, he tumbles down a snowbank time and time again, rolling down in different ways each time
>Until finally he rolls too far past the foot of the hill, right into a tree
>And then the crying began
>It wasn't a very strong impact, but being a young child, he still cried out
>The memory plays out as the Nandroid rushes to the boy's side to pick him up, assure him everything is okay, and take him inside while she gently scolded him for not being more careful
>The boy huddles up to her in her arms, apologizing, and thanking the Nandroid for coming to get him
>Fighting through his sniffles, he hugged the Nandroid, and she hugged him back, nestling close together as they made their way inside
>The memory sped past in the blink of an eye, but the android was able to take it all in as though it were happening again in real time
>The "sleeping" Nandroid smiles softly. The child was energetic and prone to getting himself hurt, but it was this and other little moments that endeared him to her

>"Vicky?"

>In her stillness, the Nandroid took in more of these memories of the boy, reminders of how he's grown over the past 3 years, and how much she's bonded with him

>"V-Vicky!"

>Vicky cared very much about her adoptive family, the Winslows, and felt that, through her connection with their son, in some small way, she was-

>"VICKY! PLEASE WAKE UP!"
>The Nandroid is woken up by the yelling and a small hand gripping hers, interrupting her "dreams"
>"What? Huh? Valen? What's wro- OH GOODNESS!"
>She recognized the voice upon waking up, but was surprised at the sight of what she was woken up by
>It was the young boy, Valen, crying as quietly as he could
>He had been cut along his arm, blood slowly soaking into his shirt that he had clumsily wrapped his arm in
>"Valen, honey, what on Earth happened!?"
>The boy had tears streaming down his face as he tried to hold back crying wails
>"I w-wanted to make breakfast for Mom and Dad. Ssso I got up early and I- a-and I-I-I-I"
>He stammers into a sob as Vicky unhooked herself from her charging station to tend to the boy
>"Shhh, shh, sh, it's okay. You're gonna be alright. Let's get your arm fixed up, then you can explain. C'mon now."
>She quickly lifts the boy up, grabs an emergency first aid kit from behind her station, and races to the nearest bathroom

>"I was, I was just SNIFF I just wanted to get a butter kn-knife out and-"
>Vicky shushes the boy. "Hold on Valen, this is gonna hurt okay?"
>Valen whined as silently as possible as the Nandroid applied a hot, wet rag to his cut, stinging as she gently patted to wash away the blood
>After some proper washing and drying, Vicky bandages Valen's arm, making sure it's snug but not too tight
>"There. That should do it, sweetie."
>Valen held his arm close in shame
>"Alright Valen." Vicky stroked one of his wayward bangs from in front of his face. "What happened?"

>Still sniffling, Valen explained that he got up early, before even the androids "woke up," and wanted to prepare breakfast for his parents
>He had decided to get out all the silverware that he'd need first
>Being so young and so short though, he couldn't quite reach into the silverware drawer, and instead of getting a stool, he tried pulling out the entire drawer
>He had no idea how heavy it was however, and while he was able to catch it as he lost grip of it, some spoons, forks, and in particular knives still flew out
>A rather sharp steak knife had flown down and sliced his arm on its way to the floor
>He held in as much screaming as he could as he wrapped his arm in his shirt and made his way upstairs to the androids' charging room, where he fruitlessly tried to alert Vicky
>"I didn't wanna wake up Emmet too, so I tried to just t-talk to you really quiet. B-but you wouldn't wake up!"
>It was lucky that Valen grabbed Vicky's hand. Physical touch immediately wakes up Sterling service androids, though particularly loud noises such as his yelling did the trick as well
>Curious that Emmet, Vicky's Botler counterpart, hadn't woken up too then, but that wasn't important at the moment
>"Valen, you should have gone to your parents instead, at least at first. They're on the first floor and you could've tripped on your way up stairs and-"
>Vicky paused as she saw the boy crying
>"Goodness... C'mere, honey."
>Vicky held Valen close and stroked his hair. "It's okay... It's okay. You're alright now, you're gonna be okay."
>"I'm sorry Vicky... I just wanted to let you and Emmet sleep this morning... You're always up so early, I w-wanted to..." His words trail off before leaning his head against Vicky. "I-I'm sorry..."

>Vicky's mind wandered for a moment
>Vicky and Emmet "wake up" whether or not breakfast needs to be made, but Valen probably thought they only wake up if they "need" to
>Such a simple, but kind gesture to show one's service android. To show one's... property
>It's not that the Winslows hadn't shown her, or Emmet, any kind of generosity or affection before
>But Valen is only 8 years old, it's surprising he'd even think about doing something like that
>Children aren't heartless, Vicky knows that, but normally they aren't so thoughtful
>At least, they normally aren't, unless they really care about someone...

>Returning to the situation at hand, Vicky continued stroking Valen's hair
>The two nestled into each other, Vicky into Valen's hair, Valen into Vicky's arms
>Vicky gently stood up, and left the bathroom, still holding her charge close
>"Come on, let's go clean up the kitchen, and I'll help you make breakfast."
>Valen looked up from his huddle. "R-really?"
>"Mm-hm! Really. Your parents will be SO happy to eat something their own son made!"
>Vicky slowly, carefully descends the stairs
>"We'll have to tell them about the cut though. I can get you a clean shirt to wear, but we can't really hide that bandage."
>Shaking his head, Valen responds "I'll tell them. It w-was my fault." He gulps in unease. "You shouldn't have to do it."
>"That's very mature of you Valen. I'm so proud of you."
>Valen hugs Vicky tight as they reach the bottom of the stairs
>Vicky stops and holds him tight in return, before continuing on their way to the kitchen

>Later, Mr. and Mrs. Winslow wake up to the smell of pancakes and bacon
>A simple meal, but pride wells up in their hearts upon seeing Valen preparing the food
>Vicky greets the couple as she sets the table. "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Winslow. Valen got up early to make you breakfast today!"
>Mrs. Winslow could barely contain herself. "Oh wow! Is that true, honey?"
>Valen nervously held his arms behind his back. Still feeling guilty, he wanted to tell the truth.
>"Um, wwwwell, I helped! B-but Vicky did more of the work-"
>"Oh no you don't! I'M the one who helped. But YOU flipped the pancakes! YOU carefully watched the bacon sizzle. This is YOUR delicious breakfast!"
>Valen swung his arms out confidently. "Heh, I guess I... DID do a lot of it!"
>Mr. Winslow noticed the bandages along his son's arm "Whoa! Whoa, kiddo, what happened to you? Are you okay? Is your arm alright?"
>Mrs. Winslow joined in the fretting. "Oh goodness, how'd that happen!? Why is that bandage so big!? Is he okay? Vicky, dear, do you know what-"
>Valen interrupts her. "I-i-it was me, Mom. I... I dropped the silverware this morning, and a knife cut me."
>"Oh sweetie, darling, why didn't you come and get us?" Valen's mother practically whined
>"I just didn't wanna wake you up. B-but Vicky helped me, I'm okay now!
>Vicky joined in. "I'm so sorry ma'am. I probably should have come and told you two. But, I got the bleeding to stop rather easily, and Valen REALLY wanted to make you breakfast this morning. He seemed fine, so I kept watch and helped. I hope you're not upset."
>"No, no. We're not upset." Mr. Winslow said while rubbing his forehead. "I'm just happy he's okay."
>"He IS okay, right?" Mrs. Winslow worryingly asked. "It wasn't a deep cut, was it? Does he need to go to the doctor, or-or-or the hospital or-"
>"No ma'am, he's fine. Luckily it was just a flesh wound."
>"Yeah Mom, see?" Valen moves his bandaged arm around wildly "I'm okay! Promise!"

>With a huff of relief, both parents give their son a tight hug
>Mrs. Winslow turns to the family's Nandroid. "Thank you for helping Valen out, Vicky. We really appreciate it."
>"You're welcome Mrs. Winslow" Vicky responds as the couple settles down at the table for breakfast
>Vicky bends down to speak directly to the boy. "You should enjoy your breakfast too, Valen. It always tastes better when you cook it yourself!"
>Giggling, Valen pulls Vicky down a little for a quick, tight hug around her neck
>"Thanks Vicky!"
>He lets the Nandroid go and hops over to and into his chair
>Vicky rose up, and simply smiled, standing at attention for the eating family, awaiting any potential orders
>Noticing her mid-chew, Mr. Winslow calls to her. "Oh, Vicky you don't have to worry about us for now!"
>"Yeah, it sounds like you had an early morning, dear." Mrs. Winslow chimes in. "Why don't you go and rest up for a little while longer. Emmet will be up soon if we need anything."
>Blinking in a bit of surprise, Vicky replies. "Thank you, Miss! I'll go and charge for another hour and a half then. Please wake me if you need me!"

>Vicky makes her way upstairs and into her charging room
>There sat Emmet in his charging station, same as before
>She quietly stepped over to her own station and sat down
>Before she plugged in for a short while longer, she heard a voice
>"Good job Vicky. I'm sorry I didn't help you with Valen earlier."
>She recognized Emmet's voice and quietly chuckled to herself
>"It's alright. I think Valen would have been more upset if he thought he woke us both up."
>Standing up from his station and adjusting his vest, Emmet gave his reassurance
>"I'll take care of the Winslows this morning, Vicky. You get some more rest."
>Emmet walked out of the room, and closed the door, leaving it dark and silent once more
>Vicky hooked into her station, and before trailing off into sleep mode, she continued a thought she had before waking up...

>Vicky felt that, through her connection with Valen, in some small way, she was a real part of the Winslow family
>And this morning, she felt that even more