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Chapter Text

Vil was… less than pleased as he sat down in front of a computer of all things, pulling the microphone closer to his mouth and settling in. Yes, he’d purposefully auditioned for a movie with the knowledge that it was based off of a video game, but how was he to expect the marketing team to pull something like this? They insisted that he, Vil Schoenheit, play the original game in a “Let’s Play” style to promote the film despite production barely having started. Not only that, but they wanted him to do it live. What a hellish turn of events this was becoming. All this and it was only another villain role.

An assistant stood beside him with a kind smile, “Alright, Schoenheit-san. You have half an hour until you go live. You’ll be collabing with an established streamer who agreed to show you the ropes and all. His name is Gloomurai-san. He’s very successful and has played this game many times over the course of his career. He’s ready to call right now.”

”Understood,” Vil replied, feigning engagement, “I’m ready as well.”

The assistant nervously reached for the mouse, navigated to Magicam’s voice chat, and hit the call button. After a single ring, the call was answered, and a profile picture with a grumpy samurai appeared on the screen beside Vi’s high quality face camera that was set up for him.

After a frankly awkward moment of silence, Vil spoke up, “Good afternoon, Gloomurai-san. I hope you’re well?”

”U-uh, yeah. Hello, Vil-sh- um, Schoenheit-san.”

Vil raised a brow in disbelief. This was what a successful game streamer was like? Well, no surprise there when all they did was play games alone and interacted with others in writing only. He wouldn’t be surprised if this “Gloomurai” never left his house or socialized in reality. Vil glanced at the assistant who smiled and shrugged nervously.

”This is my first time playing a game in quite a while. I do hope you’ll bear with me.”

”Of course! I’ll help you out, heehee. I can’t imagine you get much gaming time in your profession. What was the last thing you played? Uh, if you don’t mind me asking. Just curious.”

The model blinked in surprise at the streamer’s sudden ability to speak. Must’ve been momentary shyness. It ought to be expected for someone suddenly getting to speak to a celebrity, “I don’t mind at all. Hmm, the last thing I played… I guess it would have to be Star Rogue: A Hero’s Dawn. A peer of mine had me play it a while ago. I quite enjoyed it.”

”Oh, really? What a coincidence. That’s a classic favorite of mine, as well, whe- uh, heehee.”

Vil smiled, although it looked a bit too fake, even to himself, “While I do love chatting, we are on a strict schedule. Could you please inform me about this game before we go live?”

”Y-yes! Of course. Um. It’s your basic fantasy MMORPG that starts with choosing your class. There’s a lot of choices, but it’s the usual Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid-“

”I’m afraid I’ll have to stop you right there. I’m not sure what any of that meant,” Vil interrupted, fighting to not show his irritation on his face. This was just like talking to Idia: having meaningless phrases thrown at him left and right. Why did gamers expect everyone else to know this peculiar language of theirs?

”A-ah… right. Sorry. How do I put this in normie terms?” The last sentence was whispered, but Vil still caught it, furthering his annoyance, “It’s a story-driven game with lots of characters and dialogue. It’s open world, which means you can go around as you like, although it will activate cutscenes. There are other players wandering around in the world that you can team up with for battles. At the beginning of the game, you design your own character and pick a “class” that will determine what powers they have in combat. They’ll have different combinations of magic or physical abilities.”

Vil’s face visibly relaxed at the straightforward information. Finally, he was getting a better picture of what he was walking into, “I understand now. However, as we will be live, won’t we have other players trying to meet us in the game? It sounds like no condition for playing properly.”

”Normally, yes, but no need to worry! I teamed up with the game company to temporarily make one of the servers private. We’ll have the whole place to ourselves! Hee.”

This time, Vil’s smile was less forced, “Sounds like you thought of everything. I’m glad to have such thorough individuals working with me on this.”

”Well, can’t deny that, hehe.”

And Vil was right back to being annoyed. No matter, this stream would only be two hours. It couldn’t be that bad. He’d just think of it like any other mixer he’s had to attend for business. Just maintain his composer, interact with the “chat,” and express interest in the game. Simple.

The assistant from earlier appeared once again to politely whisper, “It’s time for the stream, sir.”

”Very well,” Vil said, sitting back, “Go ahead and start it.”

They navigated to Twistich, a site Vil’s never personally used, and started the stream. Vil tried to tamp down the slight nerves he felt at the new world he was dipping into. He hoped that it was well-received by both his own fans and fans of the game.

The model nearly jumped when Gloomurai’s voice suddenly took on a theatrical volume, greeting his viewers, “Hellooo everyone! It is I, Gloomurai. I’m here with world-class actor Vil Schoenheit-san to promote his new movie based on the game we’ll be playing today. A few words, Schoenheit-san?”

Vil blinked, trying to keep up, “Yes, hello viewers. I thank you for tuning into my very first time live streaming. I do hope you’ll be patient with me, as I’m not well versed in video games.”

He felt odd talking to people that he couldn’t see, but he supposed that was simply the way of the internet. It took him a second to track down the overflowing chat to see how his debut was being received. His shoulders sagged with relief when it appeared largely positive.

User3433: YAAAA Vil-sama playing games this is amazing

Vilseyelash: MY IDOL LIVE ON TWISTITCH??

Glamurai: Damn Gloomy got a freaking celeb on stream what

Schoenhiet44: Ofc take all the time u need sweetie!!

ijudgeu: bad enough they’re making a movie of this game but to bring the cringe here too? Come on

Alright, maybe not the last comment that caught his eye, but overall a good response. Now Vil just had to be sure to retain his image while he played and interacted with Gloomurai. He addressed the chat with a soft chuckle, “I appreciate the enthusiasm.”

”Me too, heehee. Now, to business! Vi- uh, Schoenheit-san, you’ll have to make your character before we can play.”

”Right…” Vil had to hide his distaste when he clicked over to the game and found the character creation screen already up, “I appear to be choosing a species?”

“Hehe, yup. This game has so many to choose from I spent literal hours deciding when I first played.”

”Well, I doubt the viewers would be pleased if I took up our entire stream with character creating.”

”Yeah, my fans weren’t super hyped during that stream back then…”

Vil suddenly found himself having to hold in a snort of laughter, but he was sure it showed on his face, unfortunately, “I’m sorry, you spend hours deciding whilst livestreaming?”

“Well, yeah, the game came out after I became a streamer, so…” Gloomurai sounded nervous now, much like when his call with Vil first began. Vil couldn’t help but glance at the chat again.

Glamurai: That stream was rough… no offense Gloomy

ijudgeu: bruh just start the game already

Vilseyelash: take all the time you want I’ll stare at your face for hours!!!

Lurker95: VOD watchers skip 3 hours

“I see,” was all Vil decided on saying, “Well, I’ll go with a human to keep things simple.”

”What?! No! You can’t do that!”

Vil tilted his head, confused by Gloomurai’s vehement denial, “Why not?”

”T-this is your chance to be whatever you want! To live out your furry, demon, elf, et cetera fantasies! You can’t just be a human!”

Vil sighed despite himself, “Fine, what would you have me pick, then?”

”Whatever you want! It’s not up to me.”

”And yet I can’t pick a human?”

”U-uh… I mean, I guess you can. If you really want to…” And now he sounded utterly dejected. Vil felt like he was talking with a child.

He briefly scanned through all the races and settled on something else, “In that case, I’ll be this human with rabbit ears.”

This time, Gloomurai made a sound like he was choking on air, “T-the bunny beastman? Why??”

”The tall ears are quite pretty, no?”

”W-well, yeah, but. Ugh. Okay! If you want.”

Vil couldn’t decide if he was annoyed or wanted to laugh at this streamer’s apparent emotional distress over his character choices. After selecting species, he was taken to a screen for customizing each individual part of the character. It looked like something that would take a very long time if one were to thoroughly check each option, so Vil opted for only choosing the hair, makeup, and clothes. He could never have guessed the issues that it would cause him.

”Where on earth is the option for blending the foundation better? I can clearly see it on their face. Or is there a color that better matches their complexion?”

”Uh, no, that’s the best you can do, really…”

”And the colors of the eyeshadow and lipstick don’t even match! Granted, such a thing would be acceptable under different circumstances, but I designed this outfit to go with a certain color tone, yet the eyeshadow is cool purple while the lips are warm. I suppose I must redo the outfit itself…”

”W-well, the outfit is gonna change once you get new armour anyway, so…”

”Are you telling me that the outfit coordination I’m working on right now won’t even apply for the entire game?”

”Y-yeah…”

Vil sat back in his chair with a sigh, “It appears there’s no saving this character’s fashion sense.”

”That’s what I’ve been trying to get through to you, yeah,” Gloomurai muttered, “Somehow this is making me feel less bad about my species picking fiasco.”

It was that comment that reminded Vil he was currently live on air, and he sat up ramrod straight. Curses, he'd forgotten the context of why he was making this character in the first place. The viewers could have easily lost their patience at his embarrassing display.

Schoenhiet44: This game’s character creation sucks! So sorry Vil-sama!

ijudgeu: bro’s crashing out over pixelated makeup bruh

Glamurai: He just like Gloomy frfr

Well, the reception wasn’t terrible, but Vil could certainly feel the blow to his ego. He shouldn’t have accepted this promotion in the first place. It was only a recipe for more disasters to come.

”Apologies for keeping you waiting, viewers, I’ll start the game now,” Vil spoke confidently, attempting to brush past his horrid display.

”Ah ah ah~! You’ve yet to pick a class, good sir,” Gloomurai’s voice held far too much amusement for Vil’s liking.

Vil had to refrain from outwardly groaning like a child, “Oh, that’s right. I remember there being quite a few to choose from. May I get a recommendation?”

”Uhm, well, I’m guessing that you’d probably like bard the most considering they use music while battling. What with you being a singer and all.”

”My, I’m flattered you know that. Yes, that sounds perfect. I’ll pick that one.”

Finally, Vil completed his creation and got into the real game. It started with a cutscene establishing that his character was living in a small medieval village but had to start broadening their horizons in search of work. The plot begins with the player entering the city to search but getting caught up in an attack by… aliens? Wasn’t this a fantasy plot? Well, Vil supposed aliens weren’t too far outside of the genre.

There was screaming on Gloomurai’s end, “Aaaaah I absolutely love this scene! It’s so intense!”

Vil tried his best to pay attention to the shooting beams, whipping tentacles, soaring space ships, and screaming crowds that currently filled his screen, “Intense is certainly the word for it.”

To Vil’s horror, a tentacle reached down and wrapped around his character. He was sure his disgust showed on his face because the chat became a solid wall of laughing emojis. At least he was being entertaining, he supposed.

As the tentacle pulled his character up, Gloomurai shouted, “Ah! Here, here! This is the main villain!”

What?? Vil’s disgust grew when the camera panned around to an ugly half human, half tentacled alien nonsense creature. This couldn’t be the villain he was playing, right? He must be a different “main” villain. Or maybe even a lesser villain? All he knew is that his manager would have never proposed such a role if this was what it involved.

 “This is? I must admit I’m confused. I thought I was playing the villain role, but I don’t recall the synopsis involving being an alien.”

”A-ah, yeah, they decided to change it a bit for the movie. They thought that aliens didn’t fit into the whole fantasy part of it so they made them people instead…”

By the sound of it, Gloomurai was less than thrilled by the decision but was trying to remain diplomatic. Vil respected his choice to refrain himself, even if it was only due to the fact that this stream was a promotion. The chat had far less self control, however.

ijudgeu: YUP. I HATE THEM.

Glamurai: :((((

Vilseyelash: oh thank god

MuscleRed(✓): It’s very unfortunate

[message deleted]

Lurker95: Seriously??? NOOOOO

Many dissatisfyed comments rushed by, and Vil frowned slightly. He supposed he could understand not liking a deviation from the source material, but there was nothing he could do about it. He’d have to redirect everyone’s attention instead.

Before he could speak, he was distracted by the cutscene’s continuation. The villain was squeezing the life out of Vil’s character with a crazed smile. Vil’s character was gasping for air like a fish out of water, clawing weakly at the tentacle, but to no avail. Right when it seemed as though they’d pass out, the villain loosened his grip. The oxygen rushed back into their lungs and they took heaving breaths. 

The villain pulled them up to his face with a smirk and murmured, “Someone as weak as you isn’t even worth killing.”

”WHEEAA HAHA that scene’s the best!” Gloomurai cheered loudly, making Vil visibly jump, but he couldn’t blame him. It was a good scene. This game had surprisingly good cinematography, and overall the villain’s design wasn’t as displeasing as it first appeared. Vil was certainly gaining a new appreciation for being in the film. He smiled.

The plot continued with the main character seeking to become the strongest in their class to defeat the aliens and prove the villain wrong. At last, it was time to play. Did it always take this long to actually begin a game?

”Alright! Stay right where you are, Schoenheit-shi, I’m coming!” Gloomurai called dramatically. Vil quirked a brow at the honorific but said nothing, instead ignoring Gloomy’s request and beginning to walk around and inspect the city, “Oi, I said stay!”

”I’m sure you’ll still be able to find me if I walk a few feet away.”

”But what if you begin a cutscene?? Interaction is dangerous!”

”Of course an otaku would think that.”

“UGHAHUUH I and all other otakus take offense to that!! And I mean it! People’ll just attack you out of nowhere and you need me to protect you.”

”You’re gonna protect me?”

”U-uh huh.”

”How noble of you.”

There was an odd squawking noise, presumably from Gloomy’s vocal chords, “Chat! I can’t handle this! Help me!”

Oh. Right. The chat. Vil sneaked a glance.

Glamurai: PEAK GAMEPLAY

Vilseyelash: Vil-sama smiling so much <3

Punktual: I just tuned in why is Gloomy panicking

ijudgeu: this stream is disgusting

whysoqueerious: @Punktual gay panic

MuscleRed(✓): Chat we need to help him!

It was then that Vil decided to not look at chat again for a while. Thankfully, he was distracted by Gloomurai’s character walking up. He was a hulking, navy blue wolf that towered over Vil’s character. He wore silver cyberpunk armour and had an oversized blade strapped to his back. Interesting.

”I have arrived! Let’s get going, shall we?” 

Vil rolled his eyes at Gloomy’s bravado, “Lead the way, my knight.”

More panicked, animalistic sounds came through the microphone until Gloomy started yelling, “No! Chat, shut up! Shut up!! I’m begging you. Don’t tell him that! Stop!!”

Little did he know that he just guaranteed his own demise, because now Vil was most definitely going to look at the chat.

MuscleRed(✓): ? This isn’t who you normally play as?

Glamurai: Yeah, what MR said, who’s this? 

Punktual: Where’s your usual cat gal?

ijudgeu: Too embarrassed to play as your cat girl?

Schoenhiet44: @VilSchoenheit don’t let him fool you he plays as a cat girl

Vil smirked at the information. This time, he very much appreciated the chat’s input, “Oh, I see. Thank you for keeping me informed.”

”H-huh? What did you read, Vil-shi? What did you read?!”

Gloomy’s obvious loss of composure made Vil’s smile grow even wider, “Oh, nothing. Please continue, mister wolf.”

”Ahh, alrighty.”

Gloomy took Vil to the next story cutscene which, unsurprisingly, led into a battle. Vil’s character pulled a bow and arrow out of nowhere while Gloomy pulled out his extra large sword. They were facing off against a monster that had broken into the city in order to prove to the guild members in the crowd that they were good enough to join.

”Okay, so, the tutorial in this game isn’t super strong so I’mma just tell you everything,” Gloomy began, “Just hit the button that corresponds with your basic attack as much as possible. You should also have a poison attack that you’ll want to inject in there every minute. Once you have saved up enough energy, you can use it to launch a magic attack, or, in this case, one of your songs. The songs usually give you and your team crazy buffs, but later they’ll do other stuff, too.”

”Hm. Sounds simple enough,” Vil said confidently. However, the monster brought a huge paw down right on his character and they collapsed face-first onto the ground, immediately perishing. Wasn’t that a bit strong for a first battle??

”Oh, uh, forgot you have to dodge, too, heh…”

”Really, really could’ve used that information a moment earlier.”

”My bad.”

”Yes, I agree. It certainly wasn’t mine.”

”Oh my gosh, dude. I’m sorry, okay!” Gloomy sounded exasperated, but there was still an undercurrent of amusement to his tone. Vil couldn’t help but smile.

”Is this the average difficulty? I feel dying after one hit is a bit extreme.”

”I mean, yeah, but normally players have a team. Or, if they’re by themselves, they grind for a while on side quests first.”

”I see. Well, I won’t make the same mistake this time.”

After a successful series of attacks and a dodge from Vil with Gloomurai cheering, the streamer took his turn and one-shotted the monster himself, “Hah! Told ya I’d protect you, Vil-shi!”

”Yes, thank you, Gloomy,” Vil replied. It took a couple seconds of silence before he realized what he said. Damn it! He’d been using the chat’s nickname for Gloomurai in his head far too much. His filter was usually better than this. It must be this whole streaming thing completely throwing him off. He had to change the subject, “Now that that’s taken care of, the guild will surely let us join, yes?”

”U-um, no. They’ll have a ton of f-fetch quests first,” Gloomurai muttered. Great, he was back to being shy.

”Might as well start as soon as we can then, hm?”

”Y-yeah…”

For the rest of the stream, the two seeked out ridiculous items and challenges to prove themselves to the guild. It didn’t take long for Gloomurai to get his groove back and leave his nervousness behind again. Vil, on the other hand, avoided looking at the chat nearly the entire time. For once, he was not enjoying being in the public eye. However, he couldn’t quite articulate to himself why.

”Alright, guys, unfortunately, the stream time is up. But this was super fun! Thank you for playing with me, Schoenheit-san!”

Vil blinked. Really? It didn’t feel like two hours had passed yet.

“I agree. Thank you for showing me the ropes,” Vil smirked as he added, “and protecting me. And thank you, chat, for being here. I hope you’ll continue to support the film until the end.”

Vilseyelash: Bye I love you! <3

Glamurai: Please stream together again this was the best!!

MuscleRed(✓): Farewell, friends

Lurker95: byyeeeee

ijudgeu: never watching either of u again

Schoenhiet44: BYE :(

Punktual: NOOO OVER ALREADY?

whysoqueerious: see yaaaa

User3433: shit I fell asleep

Vil waved goodbye at the camera as the assistant came back to shut the stream down, “Thank you, Gloomurai-san! Great work!”

“Y-yeah…”

“Amazing work as always, Schoenheit-san! I hope the setup was okay?”

”It was perfect, thank you. I have to run now, but do have someone let me know how it was received.”

”Will do! Have a good one.”

”You as well,” Vil picked up his stuff quickly, took one last glance at Gloomurai’s profile picture still in the call with the assistant, and left the building. He instantly spotted his usual driver waiting for him and slid into the backseat, “To Night Raven College, please.”

”Of course, sir.” 

The driver wasted no time before pulling out onto the road. As he did, Vil fished his phone out of his bag with a little too much desperation and pulled up his social media. His fans were buzzing after the stream, with screenshots of different expressions of his posted everywhere. To his relief, a majority of comments simply discussed how pretty he and the character he made were. However, a couple of the posts led to clips from the stream with some rather unfortunate titles such as “Vil Schoenheit crashes out in character creation” and “Vil Schoenheit gets one-shotted.” Although, the last clip title he came across had the corner of his mouth pulling up into a half-smile: “All the times Vil Schoenheit caused Gloomurai to gay panic.” He might check that one out later, admittedly.

Speaking of the streamer, Vil couldn’t help but type Gloomurai’s name into the search bar, hoping to see what he looked like. He’d found it strange speaking to only a detached voice with no face to match it to. Plus, he wanted to know who he’d been playing with better. However, to Vil’s confusion, there was no picture of the man anywhere. When he clicked on one of his videos, there was a 3D model of the same grumpy samurai from his Magicam profile moving around. Searching for more information revealed that he openly used a voice changer to remain anonymous, as well.

A distant echo of disappointment radiated throughout Vil’s being. So… that was it? He’d spent two hours playing games with someone who he’d never truly see or hear? Who he’d probably, in all likelihood, never have an opportunity to speak to again? That… disagreed with him. Sure, those two hours weren't important in the grand scheme of things, but part of Vil was craving for the time to continue. It felt wrong that it had to end.

Vil frowned, turning his phone off and laying it on his lap to fidget with the case while he thought. He didn’t understand his own feelings, or why his mind was so hung up on Gloomy. All he did know was that he hoped the stream was successful for nothing more than an excuse to do it again.

Chapter Text

The moment Idia ended the call with the assistant marketer, he ran to his bed, shoved his face in it, and screamed at the top of his lungs.

”That’s a tad overdramatic, don’t you think, Nii-san?” Ortho commented from his seat beside Idia’s desk. 

“Overdramatic? OVERDRAMATIC?? I just spent two entire hours teaching Vil Schoenheit-shi how to play a game.”

“It’s hardly a new experience, you know. You did it not long ago on the Island of Woe.”

”’Hardly a new experience,’ you say? Boy, every single dialogue exchange in life is a completely new experience to me!”

”Right… Well, you did an impressive job not freaking out!”

”T-thanks…” Idia ended with an embarrassed mutter before shoving his face back into his blankets with a sigh, “You did a good job as mod, too. As usual.”

”Well, of course! I have enough processing power to analyze the entire chat in an instant. But thanks anyways, Nii-san. You ready for me to head out?”

”Yeah, let me wallow in my anxieties alone, please.”

”Try not to be too hard on yourself, okay?” Ortho spoke kindly while he floated out the door, closing it softly behind him.

Idia flipped around onto his back so that he could actually inhale air, “Hades help me, I can’t be dealing with this kind of shit.”

It already took everything Idia had to handle being an unfortunately popular V-tuber for this long. The only thing that saved him was being entirely anonymous… well, and the fact that streaming was hella fun. But this? Doing an activity close to his heart with Vil-shi? He thought he might perish right there on his bed.

It’s not that he hated Vil. At least, he’s pretty sure. Well, Idia had hated the unfairly attractive asshole for almost three years, but now that they had spent some time together that didn’t involve Vil roasting the shit outta him (mostly), Idia felt different. Vil somehow made him more nervous than literally any other person! What the fuck was that for?! Idia could barely breathe when the model crossed his path, much less when they interacted for an extended period of time. How Idia survived that entire stream, he’d never know.

Yet, despite the physical debuff, talking with Vil-shi made him feel oddly… giddy?? He didn’t know what the heck that was about. It was probably gratitude for what went down at S.T.Y.X. For sure. Anyways, don’t start thinking about all that, Idia.

The Ignihyde leader sat up after realizing his thoughts were getting a bit too wild. He just hoped the stream would be well received by his fans, at least. Nobody was huge into the changes that were made to the movie, Idia included, so he hoped he didn’t catch any flak for promoting it. Normally, he’d never agree, but… Gaming with Vil had been fun. Gaming with him again was still fun. For some reason. So it was worth it.

Idia propelled himself off his bed to his desk where he readorned his headphones and loaded up Twistich again. Time to distract himself.

Over the course of the stream, there were many chatters asking about Vil, the movie, and Idia’s feelings. He pointedly ignored every last one of them. Even if his viewers didn’t approve of something, it’s not like it mattered. No one would ever know who he was, after all. There’d be no consequences for him, thank you very much.

The next day, Idia was woken up by a familiar ding from beside him. He had to wiggle his arm out from the blanket cocoon it was trapped in to reach over and take a peak at the notification. It was from Magicam:

VilSchoenheitOfficial(✓)

(Now) Good morning, Gloomurai-san. I’m messaging to inform you that our promotional stream was very successful in garnering further support for the film. The team and I would love to schedule a second one if you’d be so gracious as to join me in the game again. Wishing you a good day,

Vil Schoenheit

Idia clutched the phone to his chest, his heart rate increasing by a worrisome amount. What. The. Fuck. He had barely even processed everything that happened yesterday, and now Vil was reaching out personally and asking to stream again?? What isekai did Idia enter while he slept? This was not his reality. He took another quick peek at the message, and had to refrain from an all-out squeal. Of course Vil formatted even Magicam DMs like a damn email. Idia loved it. Was that weird? Definitely. He had to get it together, dammit.

He left the message for now. Replying would be far too intimidating, and besides, classes would be starting soon. Vil would be busy. Instead, Idia noticed a message he overlooked yesterday from his online friend, Muscle Red. They had been friends for years now, playing many co-op games together, and ended up inspiring each other to stream, too, collabing often. 

Muscle Red(✓)

(Yesterday) What a fun stream that was, my friend! You and Vil-kun are very funny together. You shouldn’t be so scared of letting him see your cat girl character~

Suddenly, friend seemed like too strong a word for this person, Idia decided. There was more than that message, though.

(Yesterday) By the way, could you teach me how to set up a face cam? I couldn’t decide whether to do that or a talking model like you have, but I can’t deprive the world of my cute face any longer ;3

Idia couldn’t help but huff a laugh at his friend. Dude was eccentric as hell. The Ignihyde dorm leader quickly typed out a response that, yes, he would call Muscle Red after classes and give him a camera rundown. After that, he made sure his tablet was functioning properly and sent it off to class in his place. Idia had been trying to attend in person more often ever since he grew closer to his classmates through the S.T.Y.X. Incident, but he’d already used up all his social points yesterday. It was time to rest today.

The whole day, Idia juggled with paying attention to classes and thinking about how to reply to Vil. He didn’t really want to do another stream. One had been more than enough, hadn’t it? At the same time, though… It had been fun. Super fun. Maybe Idia should just take advantage of any chance to hang out with Vil. Besides, it’s not like Vil could possibly know who he was gaming with. Right, he had no clue that Gloomurai was actually the pathetic, socially inept Idia. When he thought about it like that, it was perfect! It was like a completely fresh start for interacting with the Pomefiore housewarden! He could make sure that things went smoothly, and that Vil would never see any bad sides to Gloomy, at least. It was a foolproof plan.

With this revelation fueling him, Idia finally drafted out a response to Vil’s morning message, trying to make it sound at least a bit formal. Idia stared at the message for a while, reading and rereading it, making minor edits, and generally just trying to find a balance between formal, casual, enthusiastic, and laid back. This was about the best he could come up with:

Gloomurai(✓)

(Now) Hello, Schoenheit-san. So glad to hear that the stream was a success. I’d be happy to stream with you again. I’m free anytime over the weekend, as I have classes during the week. Looking forward to it!

Was this good enough? He sure hoped so. He should just go ahead and hit send. There! Wait, shit. He really did it. He actually hit send. Fuck, okay, this was okay. This was fine. Vil wouldn’t read his messages until classes ended anyways-

There was a ding from the phone sitting forgotten in his hands. Idia glanced down nervously, and suddenly he felt like his heart leaped off a skyscraper and landed on the pavement in a squashed heap. It was Vil already. What the hell. What the hell?? Wasn’t he busy?

VilSchoenheitOfficial(✓)

(Now) How about this coming Saturday at 2:00p.m.?

This Saturday? Did Idia read that correctly? Or was his brain only seeing what it wanted to see? That was crazy soon. Too soon. Or maybe just soon enough to work. Why did Vil want to stream again so quickly, anyway? Did he actually enjoy playing games? Well, Idia supposed the model did appear to enjoy playing Star Rogue, so it wasn’t impossible.

Gloomurai(✓)

(Now) Sounds good!

Idia slumped back into his chair with a mighty sigh. That interaction just took all of his HP. He was drained. He might sneak in a little nap before afternoon classes. Despite the stress, Idia smiled. 

He’d be gaming with Vil again soon.

Now, a few days later and sitting in front of his computer and waiting, Idia regretted his choices. Yes, the first stream went well, but who was to say this one would be the same? What if he messed up this time? Maybe he should cancel. No, that’s even worse. That’d ruin his good impression for sure. There was no restarting this save. Ugh, Idia hated this! He wished Ortho were here, but his social-ass brother wanted to hang out with his school friends on the weekend. How lame was that?

The Ignihyde housewarden jumped when the call screen popped up on Magicam, and he quickly pressed answer before he could even take a breath, closing his eyes against his will. His heart was pounding. His palms may or may not be a little sweatier than usual. His mind was full of fog, as if it was trying to retreat with or without his body. Why was he even more scared than last time?

”Good afternoon, Gloomurai-san,” Vil’s melodic voice poured through Idia’s headphones and washed over him, taking some of his anxiety with it and allowing him to open his eyes. Vil’s beautiful, pixelated face looked back at him. Well, not at him, but at the camera. His deep violet eyes were so… Ah! Focus, Idia!

“H-hello, Vil-shi. Afternoon,” What was that?? That was so stilted! Ah, he’s done for. Shit, he forgot to say Vil’s name correctly, too. Just end him now.

“Hm. I’ve noticed that you often refer to me as ‘Vil-shi’ by accident and then try to cover it up.”

Idia held his breath as panic filled him, “R-really? S-sorry, I can try to stop. That’s just what I always called you in my head, so…”

”Oh? Are you a fan of mine?” Vil’s expression was horribly coy and Idia did not appreciate it.

”A-ah, um. Erm. Y-yeah…?” Abort! ABORT! What kind of question was that? What else was Idia supposed to say? Oh, he’s so cooked.

“I don’t mind the name, really. You can keep using it, but only as long as I can call you Gloomy. Deal?” Huh? Vil wanted to use the cute nickname his fans gave him? Why? Idia’s heart was on the fritz. 

At first, Idia just nodded in response before remembering that his avatar wasn’t on the call, “Uh, sure. Deal.”

Vil’s smile was too genuine, “Wonderful. Anything else we need to discuss before we start?” Right. How did Idia almost forget they were getting ready to stream right now?

“Don’t think so. No.”

”Wonderful. I’ll go live when you do.”

Idia blinked in surprise. There was no assistant standing beside him this time, just Vil, alone, starting up the stream. Did the model learn how to do it himself? Why? Well, Vil was the type to like having control over a situation. He supposed it made sense.

”Alright, one sec,” Idia muttered, moving over to his other monitor to double check his face rig and send his notification post that he was going live. He sat back, closed his eyes, and took a breath. Time to get into streamer mode.

”Hello, everybody! It’s I, Gloomurai, here again with Vil Schoenheit to promote the new film and show this actor more of what he got himself into, hehe. You all ready?”

Glamurai: ANOTHER ONE?? We’re eating so good

User3433: Hello again you two!

ijudgeu: oh great, here we go again with this

Vilseyelash: Yes! YES!!

The entire chat was full of excited comments and emotes. Well, that was a good reaction. Idia smiled slightly. His chat was always so fucking goofy. It’s one of the main things that kept him doing this.

”Hello again, everybody. I’m seeing a lot of familiar names. I’m glad you’re back,” Vil casually gave the most angelic smile ever, somehow. Okay. What the heck. The chat had a similar reaction to Idia:

Vilseyelash: Aaaaa Vil-sama’s so beautiful!!

Schoenhiet44: My eyes… they’ve been blessed

Neigesbirdpin: Beauté! I love Vil’s smile. I’m so glad I’m able to watch this stream today.

Roborai(MOD): @Neigesbirdpin welcome new chatter!

Neigesbirdpin: @Roborai Thank you, Monsieur

Idia sighed internally. He had a feeling about who that new chatter was, but he wasn’t going to do anything about it for now. Ortho’s auto-mod program was good enough to ban any suspicious activity even while he’s distracted by friends. Idia was beyond grateful for the assistance.

Idia could tell by Vil’s quirked brow that he also saw the messages, and had to refrain from laughing at his expression, “A-anyways, I’m loading up the game now, Vil-shi.”

”Likewise.”

Glamurai: Oh, thank goodness Gloomy’s back to calling everyone -shi. Him trying to be formal last time was so scary. First name basis tho??

Idia was responding to the comment before his brain could catch up, “He said I could call him Vil-shi, okay? In return for calling me Gloomy.”

Glamurai: o h

whysoqueerious: so they’re already using pet names for each other?

ijudgeu: *throws up*

Fuck. Why did he say that?? Idia was so glad nobody could see his furious blushing right now. They weren’t pet names! They were just nicknames! But he learned his lesson about answering that out loud.

Idia was distracted enough by the comment that his muscle memory kicked in and he was selecting his usual cat girl to play as, “W-wait, no…! Ah, shit.”

Vil tilted his head, “Everything alright, Gloomy?”

Somebody save him!! Idia couldn’t survive all this. He removed his hands from his keyboard and hid his face in them, blushing even harder after the nickname. The stream had only just started and it was already an embarrassment trial straight from Hades himself.

”Gloomy…? Oh, I see. You accidentally picked your cat character.”

Idia peeked between his fingers to see that the game had loaded and his character was standing beside Vil’s. He covered his eyes back up and made odd, bird-like noises in response.

”There’s no need to be embarrassed. She’s cute.”

Idia froze, lifting his face up, “R-really?”

”Yes, really. I like her long, blue hair. It balances out her silhouette nicely. Plus, her armour is far prettier.”

”A-ah, thanks. She’s my main, s-so she’ll be way stronger than wolf boy, too, whee hee.”

”Hmm, I’m looking forward to seeing her in action, then. Let’s continue the story, shall we?”

”Uh-huh. We just made it into the guild before stream ended last time, so now we’ll really be getting into the meaty parts of the plot, and finally meet some of the side characters, too.”

”Ah, that’ll be fun. Like meeting my castmates all over again.”

”Right? The movie cast for the side characters is stacked, but I’m excited for you to see the originals. They all become, like, your goats.”

”They become goats?” Vil’s face scrunched up in confusion which was… kinda endearing. Just a bit.

“Ah, guess you haven’t heard that slang before? Goat’s just short for Greatest of All Time, meaning they’re the best and everyone loves them.”

”Ah, that does enlighten me on previous misunderstandings I’ve had,” Vil laughed softly, and it was music to Idia’s ears. 

Idia laughed, too, smiling widely “Yeah, I’ll bet.” Idia spent a second too long looking at Vil before remembering he was supposed to be doing things, “S-so, anyway, yes. Follow me to the next story quest!”

Idia’s character led Vil’s now unfortunately taller one to the guild’s entrance and they stepped into the grand hall together. The guild’s leader was waiting for them. She was a tall human with a braid of thick, red hair and black tattoos snaking around her arms.

”Welcome, new recruit,” she spoke, “I know you’re only fresh meat, but we need to send you out to the field, pronto. The monsters are overwhelming us, but we can’t afford to lose our one fortress outside the city. It’s the only thing left standing between the monsters and the civilians.”

”My, that sounds like bad management on her part,” Vil suddenly spoke.

The comment took Idia by such surprise that he burst into howling laughter, “Oi, oi, let’s give her the benefit of the doubt, Vil-shi, hee hee.”

”Hmph, I suppose,” Idia glanced at Vil’s face to see him grinning. He unconsciously smiled back, “Let’s go get rid of these monsters for her, Gloomy.”

”Piece of cake, whee hee hee!”

The two made quick work of the monsters, mostly thanks to Idia. He did make sure to let Vil take care of most of the battle, but he protected the model from attacks and gave him pointers on the best combos. By the end, Vil’s character was out of MP, so Idia jumped in with a major AOE attack and took out the remainders.

”Yahaaa! We did it, Vil-shi! Are you sure you don’t game? You did so good.”

”Oh? In that case, maybe I should start playing more.”

Idia’s heart skipped at that. He would like it very much if Vil played more games. Especially if he played them with Idia. Even if not, they could just talk about games more, and… Yeah. It’d be nice. Maybe he should say it outloud. Maybe Vil would agree.

”I-I think you should. We could always play more games, too, heehee…”

Vil leaned his head on his hand and looked straight into the camera, “I may take you up on that if I have the time.”

Oh, Idia’s dead. He’s sure he felt his soul leave his body. Is this what ascension was like? Is he moving on to the next life now? He had to force anything to come out of his mouth, “Y-yeeh,”

It wasn’t until after he sat there in shock for a minute that Idia remembered something very important. He was streaming right now. They were live. They had an audience. Shit! Idia hadn’t looked at the chat in the past forty minutes!!

Lurker95: our streamer hates us…

Glamurai: Gloomy hasn’t looked at chat monitor this whole time ;0;

whysoqueerious: They only have eyes for each other bruh

Roborai(MOD): Sorry guys, streamer is washed

Punktual: Feel like I just walked in on something private… should I go?

Vilseyelash: I’m happy just seeing Vil-sama’s face in real time

Neigesbirdpin: These two have such a beautiful relationship! It brings me to tears.

MuscleRed(✓): @Gloomurai Gloomy! GLOOMY!! READ YOUR CHAT

ijudgeu: @Neigesbirdpin dude… what

Idia just screamed for a moment before shouting, panicked, “Sorry, chat! I’m so sorry! I forgot you all were watching… Shit, not that I don’t care about you all! It just slipped my mind that I’m streaming.”

Vil sat up, blinking. He clearly forgot, too, “My apologies as well, chat. That was unprofessional. We’ll be sure to include you all from now on.”

Glamurai: It’s fine lol just pretend we’re not here :D

ijudgeu: L streamers

whysoqueerious: Ya’ll were too busy staring into each other’s eyes, very understandable

User3433: Omg they noticed us

MuscleRed(✓): I’ve sent you so many messages I’ve been trying to tell you something ;-;

Schoenhiet44: I don’t mind, you guys are having fun

Neigesbirdpin: Who cares about us? Please, continue.

“Thanks, guys. Um, anyways. Next quest, Vil-shi?”

Vil smiled, “Yes, let’s go, Gloomy.”

After a couple more hours of battles and cutscenes, it was time to end the stream. Time flew by at lightning speed, and Vil and Idia often forgot to check the chat for long periods, but views didn’t seem to drop at all, thankfully. Idia had finally seen Muscle Red’s message about doing his special face reveal stream when Idia was done, so he decided to raid Muscle Red’s stream when they closed out.

”Alright, everyone. It’s been fun, but our time is up now. Thank you all for coming!” Idia hit the waving emote on his avatar, “Please stick around to raid my friend Muscle Red with me, if you can. He has a big surprise coming up! Alright, bye!”

”Goodbye, everyone. It’s been a pleasure,” Vil said kindly before he also ended stream. He didn’t end the call right away, though, “Thank you very much for doing this with me again, Gloomy.”

”Ah! N-no problem, Vil-shi. It was fun…!”

”I’d like you to know that I meant what I said. I would love to play more games when I can make the time.”

Idia mouth fell open in shock, “R-really?? You want to play more?” Dammit, he sounded way too excited. How cringe.

”Yes. I have fun playing games with you. I’m afraid I do have to go, now, though. I’m only borrowing this space, after all. But I’ll message you further later, alright?”

”Y-yeah… Bye,” Idia muttered in a daze. He continued to stare at where Vil’s face used to be on the call. Those words echoed in his head.

”I have fun playing games with you…”

Idia couldn’t contain himself anymore, jumping out of his chair and squealing so aggressively that it turned into a screech. What was this? What was this?? Idia hopped a couple times before promptly sitting his ass back down and putting his head in his hands. Why did he feel so giddy? Why were his toes curling with anxious excitement? Did he really like Vil Schoenheit that much?

Well, he couldn’t think about that right now. Idia shook his head to refocus. His friend was having an important moment right now, and Idia was gonna be there for him. He quickly turned MuscleRed’s stream up, hoping he hadn’t missed anything.

The familiar deep, playful voice tickled Idia’s ears, “As you all know, I’ve been streaming for quite a while as audio-only with no camera. I’m not the best with tech, so it’s only thanks to my friend Gloomurai kindly assisting me that I learned to stream at all. Now, however, I decided it’s finally time that I got a face cam! Gloomy helped me with setting it up, as well. So, are you all ready for a face reveal?”

Idia glanced at all the excited messages flying past:

Glamurai: What?!! OMG YES

AuroraSnorealis: So excited! :)

Lurker95: Let’s go!!!!

ASKMEABOUTWAKA-SAMA: IT’S FINALLY TIME TO BEHOLD MUSCLE RED-SAMA’S TRUE FORM!!!

Gloomurai(MOD): @ASKMEABOUTWAKA-SAMA no full caps in chat plz

ASKMEABOUTWAKA-SAMA: @Gloomurai SHUT IT, HUMAN!

[ASKMEABOUTWAKA-SAMA has been timed out for 10 minutes]

Idia sighed. That chatter was always so annoying. Idia didn’t want him spamming during Muscle Red’s big moment.

Muscle Red was already counting down when Idia tuned back in, “4… 3… 2… Here we go!”

There was a flash, and then the screen was suddenly filled with pale skin and black and pink hair. Large, pink eyes framed by thick lashes twinkled with excitement, and fangs peeked through a big smile. Idia’s brain froze for the umpteenth time that day. Why… Why was he looking at the vice housewarden of Diasonmia, Lilia Vanrouge? 

When he spoke again, Idia finally realized just how familiar the voice was, having heard it through his school tablet’s microphone before, “Well, what do you think? Am I not one of the cutest people you’ve ever seen?”

Glamurai: Holy shit… YOU ARE

Lurker95: omg… so adorable

AuroraSnorealis: Yes, very cute

Vilseyelash: so glad I went with the raid. Your fashion sense is impeccable

ASKMEABOUTWAKA-SAMA2: YES YOU ARE OUR IDOL, RED-SAMA

[ASKMEABOUTWAKA-SAMA2 has been banned]

Idia automatically banned the timeout evader while his mind still tried to catch up. This whole time, the online friend he happened to come across while gaming was Lilia? The raging extrovert that always arrived by dropping down from the ceiling and could sing any genre from screamo to lullabies? Not to mention the fact that he was one of the most powerful students in the school, rivaling even Malleus Draconia himself. This… was hard to take in. Idia wanted to nope the hell out right now. How was this possible?

Idia was pulled out of his thoughts by a pleased giggle from the person currently tormenting him, “Aw, thank you all. You’re so sweet. I hope you don’t mind me streaming games with face cam now? Oh, you all seem very excited about it. How wonderful.”

The Ignihyde dorm leader sat back, studying the joyful face of his dear friend while Lilia asked chat what game he should play. He smiled to himself. Nah, this wasn’t anything worth freaking out over. There was always the chance that his online friends could go to the same school. Heck, it made so much more sense why Muscle Red always spoke so old-timey, now. Idia was happy that he got to be friends with Lilia like this, and help him understand technology that they surely didn’t have in Briar Valley. 

However, this didn’t change anything. Idia wasn’t about to reveal who he was, or reach out to Lilia in person. This would remain a secret for as long as they were in school. Idia couldn’t have anyone finding out who he was and ruining this online dream life he’s built. 

Not a single person.