Ortho Shroud

“Alright, so this is why I love cozy farming games…” You leaned into your mic, moving your little character across a pixelated field. “They’re easy to relax with, low stress, and look at these crops! So cute!”

Your chat filled with emojis and reactions.

Chat:

glitchingmind: 🍠🍠 go farmer gooo

zomberi: cuteness overload

Neko_: i need this game rn

Jen_jen: stream is so cozy tonight 🥺

You smiled, ready to dive into when the door to your room slid open.

“Y/N!!” Ortho’s voice chirped, bright and excited as he floated inside. “Did you see the trailer for the new Space Wars movie?! It just dropped like five minutes ago!! Do you want to watch it together later??”

You blinked at him, then at your still live camera. “…Uh… Ortho, I’m streaming right now.”

His eyes widened as he gasped. “Oh no!! Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt!”

But your chat had already exploded.

Chat:

Jen_jen: OMG WHO IS HE?!

glitchingmind: lil bro energy?? love him

zomberi: HE’S FLOATING?? THAT’S SO COOL!!

Neko_: cuteness overload part 2

Your_guy: Is he your robot assistant or something?

That last one made both you and Ortho’s expressions flatten instantly.

You leaned toward the mic, your voice firm. “Okay, no…. That’s rude. Ortho is not some kind of ‘assistant.’ He’s my friend. My bestie, actually. Got it?”

Ortho brightened, nodding eagerly. “Yeah! She’s the best! She’s also…” He puffed up proudly. “…my future sister-in-law!”

“Yeah!” You said on instinct, beaming. “Your-…”

Wait…

“…Wait. What did you just say? Your future what now!?”

Your cheeks heated as Ortho slapped a hand over his mouth. “Oops!” he squeaked, and then without another word, he zipped out of the room in a streak of blue light, leaving you blinking after him.

Your chat was losing it.

Chat:

zomberi: FUTURE WHAT??? 👀👀👀

Neko_: BESTIE??? SISTER IN LAW??? TEA DROPPED

Jen_jen: we heard that 👂👂👂

glitchingmind: oooh~ someone in looove

And then, one username stood out

GloomySamurai: ORTHO NO. BAD. STOP LEAKING LORE.💢💢💢

GloomySamurai: DONT LISTEN TO THE FLOATING BOY!! HE PROBABLY TALKING CRAZY!

GloomySamurai: NOTHING HE SAYS IS REAL HE’S JUST A BUGGY NPC

You tilted your head at the frantic spam. “…Uh. Gloomy Samurai seems a little upset today?”

Chat:

Neko_: wait… isn’t that Gloomurai… I’m mean THE Gloomurai?!

Jen_jen: oh? Is he a big Y/N fan?

zomberi: Bro is so down

glitchingmind: he’s freaking out because Y/N has a crush? LOL simp!

The chat laughed, but you couldn’t shake the feeling this viewer was way too invested.

Meanwhile, somewhere in his darkened gamer cave, Idia was having a meltdown.

“Ortho you little traitorrrr!!” he hissed, hair sparking neon pink flames. “You can’t just ‘future sister-in-law’ what if she actually… what if she finds out?! My current lvl not high enough to take a rejection!!!”

You, oblivious to Idia’s identity, sighed and turned back to your cozy crops. “…Okay, chat. Forget what you just heard. We’re going back to talking about potatoes.”

But your blush still lingered, and chat wasn’t letting you live it down anytime soon.

Silver

“Okay, so here’s the entryway!” you said, moving your camera to show the cozy orange lights draped across your doorframe. “I wanted something simple but spooky, and honestly? These little bats were too cute not to grab.”

Chat was already full of pumpkins, bats, and ghost emojis.

Chat:

crystellaleaf: THIS IS SO CUTE OMG

ribboned-silhouettes: spooky but cozy 💕

toffee4you: interior decorator arc??

towasdaffodil: I NEED those lights rn

You grinned and stepped further into the living room. “And here… tada!” You gestured toward the table, where two carved pumpkins sat proudly. One was neat, with star shaped cutouts. The other was slightly wobbly, but still charmingly carved into a smiling face.

The chat immediately noticed.

Chat:

mochiclouds: TWO PUMPKINS??

the-fandommusicbox9: why two tho 👀

anamizuiro: you need two for the halloween vibes??

ddurandals: 👀👀👀 who carved the second one…

toffee4you: girl is so lonely that she craved two pumpkin…

“Oh, um…” You laughed nervously, brushing a strand of hair from your face. “I made one with… a friend.”

Which was true. You just left out the part where that “friend” was your boyfriend.

You kept the tour moving, showing off the fake swords on the wall, and the new autumn pillows. Chat spammed hearts and halloween emojis, and you felt yourself relax… until you angled the camera just a little too far.

And there he was.

Silver. Your Silver. Curled up peacefully on the couch, blanket slipping off his shoulder, chest rising and falling in soft steady breaths.

You froze.

Then jolted the camera away. “A-And this is the kitchen! Haha!”

But it was too late. Chat had already seen him.

Chat:

naroiseyyy: WAIT WAS THAT A MAN SLEEPING IN THE BACK???

crystellaleaf: WHO IS HE👀👀👀?!?

ddurandals: who is this sleeping beauty?!

mochiclouds: fuck the pumpkins! Who was that???

chris-2220: omg he’s CUTE even asleep… I hope he’s just sleeping…

Your pulse raced as you scrambled for excuses. “That’s just…uh…someone visiting…”

Before you could even finish, movement caught your eye. Silver stirred, blinking slowly awake. He yawned, stretched, and then…without hesitation… he wandered over to you, still half asleep.

He slipped his arms around your waist from behind, resting his chin on your shoulder. His hair brushed your cheek as he murmured, voice heavy with sleepiness. “Mmm… come cuddle with me…”

Your soul left your body.

“Silver!” you hissed, glancing at the still rolling chat that was now in absolute meltdown.

Chat:

anamizuiro: HE HUGGED HER. HE. HUGGED. HER.

toffee4you: half-asleep bf reveal LET’S GOOO

crystellaleaf: this is so wholesome im crying 😭😭😭

the-fandommusicbox9: girl… you’re COOKED

Silver blinked, finally registering the camera in your hands. His pale cheeks flushed pink. “…Oh.”

Without missing a beat, he reached out, gently prying the camera from your hands. He leaned in just long enough to say “I’ll fix it” before pressing the button and ending the stream in one smooth motion.

Silence. Just the two of you now.

You exhaled shakily. “…Chat is going to kill me.”

Silver only smiled sleepily, pulling you closer, his warmth melting your stress. “They won’t. Even if they try… I’m here to protect you.”

And before you could argue, he tugged you back toward the couch, wrapping the blanket around both of you. His arms tightened around you, his breathing already evening out again.

Nap time had claimed him once more, this time with you safely in his arms.

Riddle Rosehearts

“Okay, so if you’re solving for x, don’t forget to balance both sides of the equation…” you explained, scribbling neatly on the notebook in front of your camera. You pointed your pen at the line. “See?”

Chat scrolled quickly beside you

Chat:

iatetoomuchchoco: omg she makes this so easy to understand

waitlexist: yeah… Im definitely gonna fail…

omnipotent-outlawss: tysm I actually passed my last test because of you🥺

sugarxrt: math queen let’s goooo

valezev: can you do alchemy tutorial next??

You laughed lightly, brushing your hair back. “One step at a time. Let’s finish algebra first, okay?”

You were so in your explanation, answering questions, drawing examples, that you didn’t notice the time. Not until your door creaked open.

“Y/N?…”

You froze, marker still in hand.

There, standing in the doorway, was Riddle. His shoulders were stiff, his hands folded neatly in front of him, but his eyes… his eyes were worried. Almost sad…

Your stomach dropped. Oh no…

Because you remembered. You were supposed to end the stream an hour ago. You were supposed to be ready, shoes on, bag in hand, so the two of you could go on your carefully planned date. Riddle never scheduled lightly. And now here he was, standing in your doorway like a kicked puppy.

“I… thought perhaps you’d forgotten” he said softly, hesitating before stepping inside, avoiding eye contact. “Or that you… didn’t want to go anymore…It’s fine if you don’t want to just-”

Your heart cracked. You jumped to your feet so quickly you almost knocked your pen cup over. “No! Riddle! Honey no, of course I want to go! I just—”You glanced at your desk. At the camera.“…the stream ran longer than I thought…”

Silence. Then the scrolling blur of your chat caught your eye.

Chat:

kingoftheredrose: HONEY??? DID SHE SAY HONEY???

imasip: WHO’S THAT REDHEAD IN THE DOORWAY

rangff: WAIT WAIT WAIT WHO IS THAT SMALL MAN???

aurelia-moon: OMG HE LOOKS SO WORRIED 🥺🥺

calcifiedunderland: omg… DRAMAAAA🍿🍿🍿

waitlexist: wooow girl just kicked a puppy…

You slapped a hand over your mouth, realizing in horror. You hadn’t muted. You hadn’t ended.

Riddle blinked, finally noticing the glowing light of your webcam. A faint blush climbed up his cheeks as he straightened his posture. “You’re still live, aren’t you….”

“…Yes…” you squeaked.

Chat went feral.

Chat:

mygodmyuniversemizisua: I KNEW IT I KNEW SHE HAD A BF

valezev: OMG HE’S SO HANDSOME WTH

Neko_: worried bf energy YES

Jen_jen: she got caught in 4k 😭😭😭

You turned back to him, panic written all over your face. “Riddle, I-I didn’t mean—”

He let out a small sigh, but instead of scolding you, he walked over, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder. His voice was low, softer than you expected. “I only wanted to make sure everything was alright. You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

Then, with a pointed glance at the camera, he added, “I think you’ll have some explaining to do… to them.”

Chat spammed hearts.

Chat:

valezev: THE WAY HE CARES 🥺

iatetoomuchchoco: SHES BLUSHING SO HARD

rangff: BOYFRIEND REVEAL LET’S GOOOOO

kingoftheredrose: bro planned a date and she forgot but he still loves her sm

waitlexist: nah king you can stay… please stay…

You covered your face with your hands, groaning. “I’m never going to live this down…”

Riddle, still red but trying to keep composed, gave you a small smile. “End your lesson, sweetheart. We’ll still make our date. I’ll wait.”

The word sweetheart sent your chat into meltdown.

And you? You were already fumbling to end the stream before they witnessed your soul leaving your body.

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