screaming with probably joy

(via bsky)

Cut to, one night, Simon’s streaming and he looks to his left to see Grace bringing him some water and food and Simon gets this lovesick look on his face and says “thanks Star.” And the chat are going crazy because “Simon has a partner?!” They hear a man softly telling Simon that he’s welcome and asking what time he’s finishing streaming so he can finish his marking before then so they can actually spend some time together (Grace watches Simon’s streams whilst he’s working on lesson planning and stuff)

Simon mumbles something about another hour then he’s “all yours” and Simon goes off screen a bit to kiss Grace as Grace doesn’t like being on camera. What Grace doesn’t know is that some people in chat saw his fox cardigan (like the front bit). Grace leaves the room and chat is going crazy speculating who it could be.

Simon was waiting for the game to load as he stretches and reads chat.

“Yeah I hope this game is good. I got recommended it the other day.” Simon groans as he stretches and he relaxes back into his chair. He hears the door open as the title screen of the game plays a tune.

“Hey I brought you dinner.” Grace smiles at him and its quiet as not to disturb him. Simon takes the plate of food from him.

“Hey, thank you so much star. This looks amazing.” Simon says with an adoring look on his face and he can see chat going crazy in the corner of his eyes. It’s filled with

‘Get you someone to look at you the way Simon is looking at the mystery person off screen.’

‘Oh my god I wish I was that person!’

‘Simon! Introduce us to your friend!’

‘He doesn’t owe us that!’

Simon is grateful for his chat defending him as he knows Grace doesn’t want to be in front of a camera.

“How long are you gonna be? Just so I know when to wrap up my paperwork so we can spend some time together before bed.” The mystery voice off screen says.

“I can come off stream right now and we can eat dinner together.” Simon answers once he set his plate down. “Chat will be understanding.”

“I know they will but you were having fun, besides, this game does look like fun.” The voice chuckles softly and Simon is still looking off screen with a love sick look on his face.

“I’ll play one round of this game before coming off for the night. I have been streaming for hours now.” Simon tells the voice. “Besides, I miss you.” He mumbles softly with his face turning pink and chat goes crazy.

‘Omg that’s so cute wait-‘

‘I’m so jealous!’

“I miss you too.” The voice says softly. “I will wish you good luck.”

Simon reaches out to grab the arm and pull him closer and chat catches a glimpse of a knitted fox on a cardigan. “Wait I need a good luck kiss!”

The person chuckles and off screen, Simon kisses the person and he says “I’ll see you in 30 minutes.”

“Ok. I’ll see you then.” The person walks away and they hear Simon say “I love you star.”

“I love you too, Si.” They hear the door click and Simon gets back on screen and reads chat.

“You have a partner Simon?!” He reads out loud. “Yes I do. No, he won’t be on camera anytime soon so you won’t ever meet him.”

The Golden Ages, is its name — an open-world RPG with stunning graphics and an even more amazing storyline. Simon roleplays the recovering Prince of an Empire that fell over a millennia ago.

“Now, after hundreds of years frozen under glaciers, the young Prince must now learnt to adapt to the new world around him while dealing with unhealed traumas,” Simon had read aloud right before he started the game. He cracked his knuckles, “Well, this is going to be interesting.”

Now, 48 minutes into the game — and even longer into the stream — Simon is completely immersed in the gameplay.

“It’s much better than I expected it to be,” he admits to his chat, eyes flickering between the game and his flooding chat. He takes note of a comment,

headintheclouds67: This is boring ngl

Simon simply snorts at that.

It’s true that TGA is much different from the usual action-packed games he plays. But it’s a nice change of pace.

One could say that the game play is slow-going, but Simon enjoys it; the way the lore of the MC is built up over time, the way the relationships between the characters are unhurried and non-linear — reminding him so much of how it is in real life — and the way the trauma of the MC is expressed and dealt with, all of it is so beautifully constructed.

“Maybe,” he finally responds, eyes shifting back to the PC screen, “But I like it.”

Simon continues playing and reaches a scene where he had to choose whether or not to accept the embrace of the MC’s caretaker. After mulling over it for a minute, he clicks on “Accept”.

He isn’t surprised by the influx of messages entering the chat following his decision making, but one particular comment catches his eye,

fearmepeasants: lmao, are you making (•••) gay as well?

This time, Simon turns to face the camera with a perfectly brow. He sees the person try to quickly assert their comment as a joke and all he does is chuckle.

Chat tries to berate him for making them panic at his reaction. But, amongst all of it, another person comments,

myasshurts: you seem to really like the mc’s caretaker.

Simon shrugs, “I mean, he’s well written.”

Another person,

lmaoherasshurts: well-written, or reminds you of a certain someone 👀👀

The rest of the chat quickly goes from berating to teasing him and someone asks,

ihaventsleptin2years: does your husband look like him?

Simon hesitantes to answer but does so nonetheless.

“Not in the slightest. And, as you all can see, I look more like him than anything else.”

Another ask,

noduckslefttogive: then are they similar in any way?

This time, Simon pauses. Though, he probably shouldn’t, because the answer is obvious: yes.

On the surface, they couldn’t have been any more different. The caretaker, he is generally known to be a cold man. He rarely ever smiles and is more task-focused than any character shown so far in the game. He is stoic, blunt and a hard man to understand.

But he is also kind. He is understanding of the MC and his issues even when nobody else seems to. He doesn’t try to force his affection on the young Prince, but makes it known that it is always available. Silence with him is never uncomfortable — healing with him is never uncomfortable.

So yeah, they were similar.

Just as Simon opens his mouth, his eyes read,

princessgumgum: awww, he’s thinking about his husband

noduckslefttogive: lmao, bro went into his inner monologue

crackaddict87: now I REALLY wanna see the guy that has this dude so in love

tgahasmylife: SAME

A chorus of “SAME”s and “I know right”s enter the chat and Simon rolls his eyes. He chooses to close his mouth shut instead of answering, letting them ramble on about his “mysterious lover”.

20 or so minutes go by in a flash and just as Simon unlocks a vital piece of lore, the door of his gaming room clicks open. A hair of messy blond flickers into his peripheral and Simon pauses the game to fully face his darling husband.

“Good evening star,” he says with a smile, “Done already?”

Ocean-blue eyes sparkle as Grace tip-toes into the room, voice lowering just a bit. “Yep, there wasn’t too much to grade so I’m done already.” Carefully, he moves to take a peek at Simon’s screen while staying out of the camera’s view.

At the mention of Grace, the chat explodes with messages of,

princessgumgum: PAPA STAR

lordoftheskies: PAPA STAR IS HEREEEEE

stuckinabloodocean: HOW ARE YOU MR. STAR?!

bigdihdaddy: WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT YOU!!

Simon is silently glad that Grace can’t see the last one.

“Is that TGA?” Grace questions from beside him. Simon nods, “Yeah; you kept on mentioning it so much that I finally decided to try it out.”

Grace chuckles sheepishly at his words, “Sorry if I overdid it.”

Simon feels his heart soften.

“Of course not, my love. Besides, the game is really good so far.”

His husband breathes out a sigh of relief before turning to stare at the digital wall clock in the room.

“It’s nearly 8 30PM, should I start making dinner?”

The rumble of Simon’s stomach answers the question for him.

Both Grace and chat laugh at him, and his husband blows him a kiss before existing the room. Simon lets the minute pass as he catches his breath.

He knows what chat is saying before he sees it,

greywolflover: our boy is WHIPPED

anteater69: awwww, he looks so in love

starlingmydarling: MAY THIS KIND OF LOVE TACKLE MEEEEE

keepingitcool: LOOK AT THE WAY HIS EYES ARE SPARKLING

Simon ignores them and continues the game, “Keep that up and I’ll end the stream early.”

It is late afternoon when he starts the stream, so Grace won’t be back home for another hour.

That’s enough time to cause as much chaos as he knows he is going to make.

He starts the stream, watching the influx of messages pouring in from confused fans,

tocoolforschool: no freaking way, he’s streaming today??

starlingmydarling: he shouldn’t be

anteater69: okay, I am SO confused rn

starlingmydarling: you and me both my friend

farawayinspace: maybe he misread thursday for tuesday on his calendar?

thatonecoolfriend: lmao, he IS getting old

Simon furrowed his brows at that — he was only 34.

He ultimately decides to ignore them for the most part and lets them speculate as to why he is streaming on a day that was most certainly for him to spend time with his darling husband.

The speculation lasts for a while as he finished setting up, and the messages switch from confused to curious,

yourfavgayfriend: what are you doing on stream today??

goddessofbitvhes: maybe a game? he IS in his gaming room

greywolflover: IS PAPA STAR AT HOME???

Simon decides to answer that with, “Unfortunately, no, and it’ll probably be a while before he gets home.”

Chat quickly goes into lamenting about how much they miss their ‘other papa’—

“I am not fathering any of you,” he had lamented, years ago, when his chat decided to start calling him Papa Is on social media purely out of spite.

They had very much ignored that.

—and their hopes that he will join the stream later on.

“Alrighty,” he starts as he settles in into his chair. In his hands is a rectangular, leather box; brown in colour with a large, circle-shaped hole on the top. “Today, I’m trying out something new.”

He raises the box into the camera’s view and sakes it — only the soft rustle of paper reaches Simon’s ears. A fan asks,

headintheclouds67: what’s that??

Simon_says87: looks like a tissue box tbh

princessgumgum: what’s inside??

Simon suppresses the urge to smirk as he begins to talk, “Star’s kids are a rambunctious group—“

He pauses for a second, watching as the chat literally FREEZES due to the sudden number of messages coming in.

“—and I had him ask them to write down the name of their favourite games,” he continues, fully aware of the chaos he has unleashed into the void that is his following.

I_love_papa_star: PAPA HAS KIDS?!?!

sciencefreak: HOLY FREAKING SHITTTTTTT

bloodyoceangal: SAY SIKE RIGHT FUCKING NOW

greywolflover: YOU TWO HAVE KIDS?!?!?!?

holy_freak: IS SOMEONE FUCKING CLIPPING THIS??

starlingmydarling: WE HAVE SIBLINGS??????

At that, Simon lets out a groan, “Oh, for the love of god- Star and I are not your parents!!”

rock_paper_scissors: I BEG TO FUCKING DIFFER

noduckslefttogive: DON’T THREAD AWAY FROM THE SUBJECT!!

starlingmydarling: Y’ALL, THOSE ON DISCORD ARE FREAKING OUTTTTT

This time, Simon allows himself to smile but doesn’t acknowledge their questions. Instead, he pushes his hand into the box and feels around for a piece of paper. After a bit of dramatics, he pulls one out and reads it aloud, “Whiskerwood Chronicles… huh, sounds interesting.”

One comment that isn’t noticeably freaking out explains,

whodecidedthat: it’s a mystery/puzzle game that came out around the time you took a break

greywolflover: MY DARLING MOOT, FOCUS ON THE MAIN TOPIC AT HAND PLS???

Simon lets out a snorts and decides to go searching for the game. One search in and chat is still loosing its mind.

sciencefreak: MY SISTER IS LITERALLY FOAMING AT THE MOUTH BC OF THIS,,, PLEASE ANSWER USSSS

cutiepieforever: I THINK HE’S DOING TS ON PURPOSE RAHHHHH

stuckinabloodocean: GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE RN

hail_my_mary: DOES THIS MEAN THAT PAPA IS A DADDY???

fearmepeasants: @hail_my_mary I mean, he did say STAR’s kids and not their’s so…

lush_and_luxurious: are you implying what I think you’re implying…?

fearmepeasants: 🤷

Simons notices that the moderators have made a few bans from the stream since his chaotic reveal but he doesn’t mull over it too much. Simon is still doing his research when he makes a murmurs, “I wonder what star will make for dinner today...”

starlingmydarling: of COURSE HE’S THINKING ABOUT HIS HUSBAND RIGHT NOW

papasi&star: SIR WE ARE SUFFERING OVER HERE

myfailinggrace: I HATE THIS SO FREAKING MUCHHHHH

redyellowgreen: HE HATES US, THERE IS NO OTHER REASON FOR THIS!!

Simon is wondering if he’s teased chat enough and should just come clean when the room’s door room opens with a click. Grace walks rather absentmindedly into the room, phone in hand and a confused expression painting his face.

“Good evening, my love,” Simon smiles as he turns to face his husband. The intensity of chat picks up once again.

I_love_papa_star: PAPA IS HERE???

bloodymarygal: OMG OMG HE’S HEREE

lordoftheskies: FREE US MR STAR! FREE USSSSSSS

“Uh, Si,” Grace starts with a perplexed tone, “Why on earth is twitter freaking out about us having kids?”

Simon barely holds in a laugh. He had no idea the chaos had infiltrated Twitter in a matter of minutes.

“No reason, my star, chat’s just being crazy again.”

starlingmydarling: HE’S TRYING TO FUCKING GASLIGHT US

hail_my_mary: CRAZY? I WAS CRAZY ONCE-

anteater69: WE’RE THE CRAZY ONES??? EXCUSE ME??

whattheblip: BETRAYAL OF THE HIGHEST ORDER!!

Simon_says87: FATHER, WHY ART THOU CONDEMN US???

“Yeah, I don’t believe that,” Grace deadpans, a brow raised as he crosses his arms and Simon is doing his utmost best not to stare at his gorgeous biceps.

“Well, it’s true.”

princessgumgum: LIES, HE SPEAKS OF NOTHING BUT LIES

lesbianqueen: men 😒

bigdihdaddy: PAPA STAR, CAN YOU HEAR US??

“Si, we’ve been married for too long for me to believe that deceptive smile of yours.”

“But you love my smile.”

fearmepeasants: in front of my salad? really?

starlingmydarling: shush, let them complete their mating ritual

tocoolforschool: came back at just the right moment 

farawayinspace: wait, does this mean that they DON’T have kids????

greywolflover: I am so confused rn

Simon grins as his reads the chat but focuses his attention back on Grace when he hears him sigh. "Simon, do we have any kids that I don't know about?"

Simon merely shrugs, "Beats me."

fearmepeasants: fucking called it

princessgumgum: boy, where?

I_love_papa_star: aw :( they don't have kids

whodecidedthat: you wanted them to?

I_love_papa_star: honestly have no idea tbh,,, it's like 1am over here and I'm just typing shit

A few seconds pass and a flash of realisation crosses Grace's features, "Wait, are you talking about my kids?"

greywolflover: okay, now I'm even more confused

lordoftheskies: do they have kids or not??

lush_and_luxurious: I have zero fucking idea

"Simon, are you talking about my students?"

starlingmydarling: OH MY FUCKING STARS ABOVE

noduckslefttogive: so he WAS trolling us

sciencefreak: dude my sister almost bit me from how crazy she went over this

anteater69: but wait that's so cute tho

toocoolforschool: @anteater69 ikr, he thinks of his students as his kids <3

justhereandthere: ain't that a bit weird though?

fearmepeasants: @justhereandthere I will find out where you live, do not test me

"You just live for the drama, don't you?"

Feeling utterly shameless, Simon responds, "For that and you."

holy_freak: I'm gonna throw up

starlingmydarling: AWWWWWWWW MY PAPASSSS

hail_my_mary: if he keeps on talking like that, they WILL find a way to have kids

lordoftheskies: @hail_my_mary I like the way we're thinking

cutiepieforever: I'M GONNA CRY THEY ARE SOOOO CUTEEEE

princessgumgum: I BET PAPA STAR IS BLUSHING SO HARD RIGHT NOWWWWWW

And they're right. Simon watches as Grace's pale face turns a beautiful shade of cherry and smiles.

"So, what are we having for dinner?"

Grace spins around to leave the room, "Don't talk to me."

"I love you too, my star."

fearmepeasants: gross

starlingmydarling: oh you can NOT be talking

farawayinspace: awwwww, I wish we had more time with papa star :(((

princessgumgum: but at least we got to see him today!!

goddessofbitvhes: PAPA SI, Q&A WHEN?????

Simon's eyes widen at the last message. Slowly, he asks, "Huh, should we do a Q&A?"

A bloodymary wip ☀️🩸

grace just met this poor guy and immediately sprayed him with a hose no warning

rocky is trying not to laugh at this mutilated dude getting hosed down