virtual angel

Ike read the question aloud and laughed. “No, (Name) has no idea. They went to bed hours ago.” Even just that small mention of his partner had the effect of you becoming the new topic of conversation. Ike didn’t mind, of course; he loved to talk about you just as much as his chat did— probably more.

His model could never truly express the way his eyes lit up when he talked about you, but his chat knew how smitten he was by the dreamy tone of his voice. You were the first person Ike spoke to when he found himself in the future, the current present. Even though his story was strange and you had no reason to trust him, you did, and began helping Ike fit in to the present. One thing lead to another, and Ike found himself moving in with you— you were the only person that would let him stay with them, after all. He didn’t exactly have a credit score to help him rent an apartment.

But it was difficult for you to support the both of you on your one income, and Ike felt guilty. He needed to find a job, and it was by some miracle that a vtuber agency of all things was hunting down time travelers like him. After an intensive crash course on how to properly use a computer, Niji placed Ike into Luxiem and offered you a spot in a different wave, debuting after Ike. Realizing your money problems would soon be over, you and Ike celebrated so hard that you ended up making out on the couch. Awkward confessions came after you were both sober.

ewiwapendragon: smh (Name) is not gonna be happy with u Ike’s least favorite quildren: i miss (Name) 3: (Name): excuse me ike it is 5 AM!!! what the hell!!!!

That highlighted username caught the attention of both Ike and the rest of the chat. He laughed— busted. “Oh no, hi (Name),” Ike smiled. “Why are you awake?”

(Name): ummm why you asking me that???? you’re the one streaming at 5 am!!!!!

You were currently traveling, so, as much as you wanted to, you were physically incapable of dragging Ike to bed. Harassing him in his stream chat was the next best option.

(Name): you’ve been streaming long enough, go to bed ):<

“Aw c’mon, my sleeping schedule isn’t terrible.” Very much a lie, but it wasn’t like he was going to give in just like that. Ike had to at least put up a little bit of a fight.

He was reminded that he was sitting in one of discord voice channels when the sound of someone joining the call played in his ear. “Ike. Go! To! Bed!” Even if you were scolding him, hearing your voice always put him at ease. He couldn’t wipe the smile from his face as you continued to nag him. “Your sleep schedule is so shitty. I still can’t believe you confidently said ‘good morning’ to me the other day when it was literally 4 pm.”

“Why are you exposing me like this,” Ike whined.

“Someone has to!” You giggled— a sound pleasant to Ike’s ears as he just sat there and smiled. In his tired state, he was almost content with falling asleep right in that moment, your voice lulling him into relaxation. “Ok, chat, do you guys think Ike should go to bed?”

Chat erupted in agreements with your question, but Ike knew he was doomed to lose this battle from the start. The longer he fought back, though, the longer he got to talk to you before going to sleep— and there was nothing else that could give him such nice dreams afterwards. He let out a dramatic sigh, raising his arms in defeat. “Ok, ok! I’ll end stream now, geez. Goodnight guys!”

You cheered in victory, and Ike found himself imagining the smile on your face. “Goodnight chat! and, goodnight Ikey! Mwuah mwuah! now, go to sleep!”

Ike ended the stream, leaving you and him on the voice call to yourselves. He wished he could express just how grateful he was to have you in his life, how lucky he felt to have met you all that time ago. The only words he manages, though, in his half asleep state, are, “you are adorable.”

“Yeah, yeah, just go to bed already! I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” The exhaustion in your voice reminded him that you had woken up just to drag him to sleep. You had absolutely no idea how soft his expression was currently, his heart warm with all the love he felt for you and more.

Ike’s voice was quiet, “I will, don’t worry. I love you.”

“I love you too, sleepyhead.”

“You can work on setting up your desk space in the meantime.” Finally, words you could understand. You nodded, standing and shuffling towards their currently empty desk, aside from a box of goodies. It was on the opposite side of the room from Shu’s desk, set perfectly so they wouldn’t mess with the tracking for your models.

You’ve always had a passing interest in streaming, likely stemming from knowing Shu and his friends for so long, but you weren’t sure you were the right type of person. What did you have to offer that no one else can? You couldn’t think of any good answers to that question.

Still, after debating on it for a few months, you finally decided you wanted to start streaming. Partially because getting a new PC to replace your old, shitty one was a good excuse to start, and partially because Shu had been silently (obviously) sending signals that he wanted to be able to stream together. You refused to let him influence his agency in any way, so you opted to be an independent streamer instead. That gave you more flexibility, too— you didn’t really think of themselves as the type to reach an agency’s stream quota. still, Shu was elated to hear that you could finally join on streams with him.

You wondered if he had some sort of dream to become a cute streamer couple.

“Are you okay over there?” Shu’s voice grounded you back into reality again. You didn’t even know how long you were spacing out, but it was long enough for Shu to notice. He was still working on the PC, but his head turned to look at you with a furrowed brow.

You nodded, hands quickly moving back to the box to unpack more items without ever glancing back towards Shu— perhaps a fatal mistake if your goal was to stop Shu from worrying about them. Again, he spoke up, “you’ve been pretty quiet all day.”

You just wanted to shrug it off. “‘Cuz I’m embarrassed that I don’t know how to build a PC and I feel guilty for making you do all the work.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shu chuckled. You snuck a glance over your shoulder to see the warm smile on his lips. “I’m having a good time. Your shaky hands might be an issue, anyway.”

for a moment, you believed you got past Shu’s worry, and simply rolled your eyes at his teasing comment. Shu wasn’t done with the conversation, however; he put the power supply box in his hands down and returned his gaze back to you. He initially hesitated, unsure of the proper way to phrase his thoughts, but was able to steel himself. “Something’s on your mind. Don’t think I can’t notice. I’m a great boyfriend, after all.”

a fact that you could never find it in your heart to deny. Silence followed his words until you began fiddling with the edges of the box while thinking of what to say. You felt Shu staring at you expectantly, and you realized there was no avoiding the inevitable.

“I… I’m nervous about streaming.” It wasn’t until your voice trembled that you realized you were suddenly on the verge of tears. You couldn’t understand why, you were fine all day— and, the day before that, and the day before that. ah, so this was the final straw that pushed you over the edge. You let out a shaky breath, moving your hands to cover your face in an instant. “I haven’t even started yet and it’s so... overwhelming. I don’t want to disappoint anyone. ‘Specially not you…”

Shu’s heart shattered at the sight of you breaking down and wasted no time crossing the room and pulling them into an embrace. You melted into his touch, your tears staining his sweater while Shu ran his fingers gently through your hair. He was quiet as you cried— there were things he wanted to say right away, but he opted to let you cry it out first while whispering sweet nothings into your ear.

As time moved on, your breathing slowly began to get back to normal and the tears stopped falling. Shu wiped the tears away from your face with a gentle hand and laughed when he saw you pout. “Ugh, that was embarrassing. If you love me, you’ll just forget that happened.”

“I do love you,” he affirmed. He moved his hand to cup your cheek, thumb brushing away the last few stray tears. “That’s why I’ll tell you that you don’t have to stream if you don’t want to. I don’t want you to stress yourself out.”

You turned your head and leaned into Shu’s touch, pressing a kiss to his palm. “I want to stream, I’m just nervous! I’m sure I’ll feel much better the more time I spend streaming.” Your voice was optimistic, contrasting the ‘just cried’ look on your face, but Shu didn’t seem fully convinced. “Besides, you’re gonna be there to help me, so I’ve got no reason to be worried!”

The sentence was punctuated with a chaste kiss to his forehead, and Shu pulled you closer before you had the chance to slip out of the embrace. Suddenly… it felt like Shu was trapping you. “I’m glad you’re confident again. You can help me put together your PC, then.” and, with that, he dragged them back towards the table.

“Wait— no! I’m incompetent!”

IKE EVELAND

He knew it was going to happen. He’s seen you get stressed in a crowd more than once and he made sure to be on the lookout for all the usual signs of distress.

Ike looked up from reading chat to check up on you and noticed your tense demeanor. He frowned, lips pressed into a firm line— he was sitting across from you on the other couch and between his friends and scuffed streaming setup there was no way to move towards you without attracting attention. From the way you were sitting deathly still without moving away on your own, Ike knew you didn’t want your friends to notice that you were worse for wear. He imagined that you didn’t want to kill the vibe, or something of the sort.

Unfortunately for you, Ike cared more about your well-being than being discreet. He stood up and crossed over hazardous wires to your spot on the couch. You’ve caved too far in on yourself to notice his presence until your fingers are interlocked and he’s pulling you up from your seat. Eyes opened, you saw Ike’s gentle smile, which grounded you back into reality enough to sigh in relief when he moved his hand to the small of your back. The song isn’t over yet, so Ike mouthed, “we’ll be right back,” to Elira and Aia before guiding you out of the room.

With the door closed behind you the sound was muffled. The air in the hallway was cooler and the walls were a boring shade of beige that was suddenly beautiful given the circumstances. You took a deep breath and unclenched your jaw, which you weren’t even aware you were doing in the first place.

Ike’s hand stayed on your lower back, tracing circles as you calmed down. “You’re too stubborn,” he mused. “If you’re not feeling good, take a moment to yourself!”

You knew if you let him talk more he was going to lecture you gently on advocating for yourself. The scolding would definitely be deserved, but you got in his way before he could truly start. “You came to my rescue anyways,” you laughed. You leaned forward to rest your head against Ike’s shoulder and gripped the fabric of his sweater for dear life.

He was also aware that you were avoiding one of his lectures, but he loved you and you were stressed so he let you get away with it this time. He pressed a kiss to your temple, but not before rolling his eyes. “Well, obviously. I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise.”

SHU YAMINO

Shu’s approach was unorthodox. 

The song ended before he noticed. In that moment he was seated on the opposite end of the couch from you with a cold drink in hand to mitigate the growing temperature of the room. In between songs, everyone in the room shuffled positions as Vanta scrolled through the tracklist, and with Aia moving to the front to sit by Rosemi, Shu took the opportunity to seize the open spot next to you.

His arm found his way around your shoulder, an intimate gesture gone unnoticed by your models’ tracking. It was calming enough to release some tension from your neck, and with his fingers on your shoulder he noticed the stiffness of your body. He tilted his head towards you, curiosity shifting into concern when he saw your furrowed brows and closed eyes. “(Name)?”

The best you could offer him was a rigid nod. His hand squeezed your shoulder and he frowned. If there weren’t several microphones around the room, Shu would say something more comforting. But it would also sound romantic and the last thing the situation needed was chat prying into a background conversation.

Your skin is hot. Fever level, almost. There was a simple solution that Shu acted on without skipping a beat— he pressed his cold drink against your cheek. You flinched against the can and whined, “hey!”

There was no room to move away from Shu and, in fact, he pulled you closer. You had half a mind to push him away but the action was, unfortunately, sweet and grounding. The aluminum against your cheek brought your body temperature to something more reasonable and the sheer absurdity of it brought you back down to Earth. “That was uncalled for.”

“I think it was pretty called for,” Shu replied. You both whispered but the conversation was definitely audible in the stream for active listeners, so the conversation would be a fun song and dance around any romantic implications. “It’s better now, right?”

You couldn’t help but smile. You pushed yourself closer to Shu until you felt like you were connected. “Better,” you agreed.

SONNY BRISKO

You didn’t even see him move. You forced your eyes open after a shallow breath, a failed attempt to soothe your anxieties, and found Sonny to your right on the couch. You blinked. He didn’t say a word and wasn’t looking at you, but his hand landed on your knee and squeezed.

Sonny embodied the strong, silent type so well that you wondered if he was doing it on purpose. If the comforting contact wasn’t enough to calm your nerves, you thought that the sheer force of his cool attitude would do it on its own. His hand was warm against your leg, but not in the uncomfortable and icky way that was plaguing you. It was gentle yet firm and he brought you back into the moment like you never got lost.

“When did you get over here?” You asked quietly. Finally, Sonny turned his attention towards you and shook your knee playfully.

“I’ve been in the room the whole time,” he said, like it answered your question. Chat saw your model’s eyes roll and sent “wwww”s and “LMAO”s in response to your side conversation as Elira yapped in the foreground. 

Sonny’s model doesn’t do the shit-eating grin he had in person justice. “Funny,” you replied, pretending not to be amused but your smile betrayed you. 

Your smile and steady breathing told Sonny he was doing everything he needed to. He never said it out loud, but if there was anything he prided himself on was his ability to read you clearly. This off-collab? A recipe for chaos, camaraderie, and disaster, and Sonny knew full well it was going to be overwhelming for you. The second everyone piled into this room he knew it was only a matter of time, so he watched you closely but only moved when he saw your shut your eyes.

He did things quietly without any expectation of a return. Sonny was satisfied with your love and affection but you loved him enough to return his actions tenfold. You pulled his hand from your knee to your chest and kissed his knuckles. His hands were calloused and rough but you treated him gently anyways.

“Chat,” you whispered into the nearest microphone. “Sonny just stealthed across the room. It was terrifying. Scariest guy in the world!”

Scariest guy in the world, code for sweetest guy in the universe.

VANTACROW BRINGER

This was Vanta’s first time hosting an off-collab this large and he was hyped to sing his heart out alongside his friends and even more so, but secretly, his partner.

He was singing along to KICK BACK when your anxiety spiked. This off-collab was a big deal, you thought to yourself in your worry. There wasn’t any particularly big stakes, but you knew full well how special it was to get to be the host for a big off-collab. It more than tripled your average viewer count and the last thing you wanted was to distract him from the excitement.

So, even when the song ended, you steel yourself with a shaky breath and try to relax. Maybe if you pretended it wasn’t a big deal, it suddenly wouldn’t be, but your heightened awareness made you notice small enough details like one light faintly flickering, so you knew it was a fruitless effort.

You should have known, though, that Vanta isn’t blind. An unconvicing smile didn’t do anything to reassure him when he glanced at you while picking the next song. Because your posture was stiff and he could see some sweat hastily wiped to the side of your face. He found himself offended that you thought you could pull a fast one on him like he wasn’t the best and most attentive boyfriend on the planet (self-proclaimed).

“Claude, can you pull up the next song?” He asked, and then him walking towards you made you realize he saw right through you. There was nowhere to run so you were defenseless when he grabbed your wrists annd pulled you off the couch. “Chat, (Name) is giving me weird looks.”

His humor dffused some of the tension from your mind. “O- Only because you looked at me strange first!” He pulled you forward until your torso was flush against his and, with one arm wrapped around your waist, he dragged you towards a less crowded corner of the room. It wasn’t secluded by any means, but it was a good distance away from most of the scuffed streaming setup and, most relieving, under the room’s only air vent.

Cool air soothed your skin in an instant and Vanta rubbed his hands up and down your arms. “You’re okay?” You were far enough away from the stream setup to go unheard by the microphones, so you nodded and replied quietly.

“I’m okay.” You assured so he could get back to the stream as soon as possible, but he still hesitated to return until he leaned in to kiss your cheek. The last of your anxieties escaped with the relieved sigh you let out, “now I’m perfect.”

CLAUDE CLAWMARK

Claude was a man on a mission that started even before he finished singing along to KICK BACK. His aim wasn’t just for his Valo hopcons with Finana; keeping track of your well-being was a much better use for his observation skills, in his humble opinion. 

He glanced behind him once while singing and analyzed your demeanor in one second. Furrowed brow, tense shoulders, eyes squeezed closed— bad signs! Claude squinted at you before turning back towards the karaoke screen. Something would have to be done about this.

The song ended and Claude pouted in spite of the room’s excitement because he thought back to before the stream started. “Hey,” Claude pulled you aside as Vanta, Elira, and Vox were setting up the scuffed stream equipment. “It’s really crowded in here. Let me know if you get overwhelmed, ‘kay?”

And you said yes but you didn’t say a word before Claude left your side to go up for karaoke so he was upset. Not upset at you— well, a little, but not seriously —but at himself for not noticing earlier. Maybe at the room for only having one air vent and making the atmosphere uncomfortably stuffy.

There is no room left on the couch for him to join you unless he pushes Ryoma off the couch. So, instead, he stood in front of you and placed his hand on the top of your head. When you looked up at him, Claude moved his fingers to card through your hair and scratch at your scalp. To avoid being heard by the stream, Claude mouthed, “are you okay?”

It was a rhetorical question and despite knowing that you still lied and nodded. Claude scoffed and sat down on the floor against the couch— right between your legs. Claude rested his arm on your leg and turned backwards to look up at you, and you realized your leg stopped bouncing and it was easier to breathe. “Liar,” Claude whispered.

The weight against your legs was comforting, and Claude smiled at you warmly, and things weren’t so bad all of a sudden. You leaned forward and wrapped your arms around Claude’s shoulders. “Guilty.”