you were just a girl with a cute setup, friesday streams, and a chat that watched you crash out over pixel blocks and blind boxes.

so when clips of you twirling your hair, smiling all shy and going "i meannnn… he’s so hot and his voice—" well... that unfortunately blew up overnight…

you just laughed it off.

“guys it’s not that serious,” you said on your next stream, cheeks a little pink, fingers fidgeting with your rings. “but i mean like… have you heard him?”

your chat absolutely did not let that go.

meanwhile....

he didn’t care.

sukuna wasn’t the type to scroll.

didn’t doomscroll, didn’t check tags, didn’t care about edits or clips or whatever people were saying about him. simply posted “stream in 10” and logged off.

that was it.

but his chat?

annoying.

spamming.

relentless.

[kunaslilslut] have you seen angelicluv [thestrongest] angelicluv she said ur hot [sleepnagi] bro she wants u [magicalgirls] ANGELICLUV!!! NOTICE HER

he leans back in his chair, one arm hooked behind his head whilst showcasing a small glimpse of his v-line and abs, headset half on, mic catching that low hum in his throat.

“who the fuck is angelicluv?” he mutters, voice dipping lazily into the mic.

chat goes absolutely feral.

he clicks his tongue, mildly irritated but curious now.

“she said something about me?”

more spam.

more caps.

more exaggeration.

he exhales through his nose, then finally.... finally....leans forward, pulling his keyboard closer.

“what’s she known for?”

[flithymonke33ys] minecraft crashouts and blind boxes. [suckkmyb3alls] she popular on tiktok for being reaction stickers. [manlyredriot] she's pretty as but very extroverted on stream.

“…tch.”

he types your name in anyway.

your profile pops up.

soft colours. aesthetic. pretty in that effortless way that doesn’t look like you tried too hard... i mean you did, but he doesn’t need to know that.

he clicks a tiktok compilation.

first clip was you in your car.

he pauses.

“…this her?”

[moansforbuldak] yeSSSS [hoppindihdih] ys esyeyeyes [noayaistheworst] yeahhhhshhshshs

he studies the frame for a second longer than he should.

“…hm.”

plays it again.

you’re holding up the skull panda box, smiling all bright and excited, voice sweet... a little too sweet.

“now the moment you’ve all been waiting for!”

he rests his chin on his knuckles, watching.

not reacting.

just… simply watching... or admiring

“except that fuck ass christmas tree....” you said it so seriously like your whole life mattered onto it. i mean it did... you spent $30 dollars on it

he snorts quietly.

actually snorts.

chat explodes.

he presses his lips together like he didn’t just do that.

“she’s annoying,” he mutters.

but he doesn’t click off.

he keeps watching.

you open it.

pause.

your face drops.

“…no.... no im schizophrenic this isnt real”

he lets out a low, muffled chuckle, shoulders shaking once.

“unlucky,” he says, voice quieter now.

then the second box.

same result.

you staring at the camera like your soul just left your body then looking out the window and sighing quietly.

he leans back again, one brow raised, amused in a way he doesn’t bother hiding anymore.

“she’s funny.”

chat loses it.

[thestrongest] youuuuuu likeeeee herrrrrr [slugtforkunaa] OH MY GOD” [shimigamieyes] SOME1 CLIP THAT [bannanana] HE DEAD AHH HE SMILED

“shut up,” he says flatly.

but he’s still watching.

still letting the next clip play.

still listening when you laugh.

that was until he noticed

you’re on live.

he joins quietly and watches whilst his stream is still going.

whilst you're mid rant over losing in minecraft to a creeper, dramatic as ever, chat spamming.

[iluvy/n] GIRLLL JUST TAKE THE L [imaseagull] ykw she has a point [gojoswhitefungustoe] bae ...... just take the loss

“oh my GOD you guys are so fake to me..”

your meow ping goes off.

you barely glance at it.

“thank you for the follow... wait a minute...”

you freeze staring at the follow then watch it dissapear.

chat is now spamming more than ever.

your eyes flick back.

double take.

triple take.

“…no...”

chat starts SCREAMING.

[angelicallyy/ns] LMFAOOO LOOK AT HER FACE [sukunasdemon] heeeyyy we came from his stream [applepies348] SUKUNA U CAME AT THE WRONG TIME SHES CRASHING OUT LOL [tojiiifushi] dayummm sukuna i may steal her from you

“no your all lying....”

you lean closer to the screen, squinting like that’ll change it.

it doesn’t.

demonickuna followed you.

THE DEMONICKUNA...

and then a donation appears for $30 dollars.

your ping of a meow makes a noise.

you don’t even breathe.

the message speaks out

“open another one of those blind boxes.”

you stare at it.

your chat is actually unusable.

“…are you..” you laugh nervously, covering your mouth. “are you serious right now?”

another donation of $30 pings through

“don’t get the 'fuck ass christmas tree' again.”

you blink.

once.

twice.

“…i hate you now i take back everything.”

whilst on his side

he smirks.

“yeah,” he mutters under his breath, eyes flicking to your stream on his second monitor.

“she’s cute.”

Mayu’s content: Silent Hill f runs among other horror and puzzle games (people are entertained by how she doesn’t scream at things), snack reviews, chatting streams. She uses an onigiri creature avatar and it bounces across the screen like a DVD logo during her "starting soon" screens. She is commonly referred to as "Rice-chan." Jamil is also one of her mods because he Doesn’t Trust People.

Jamil’s content: Rhythm games (he’s really good at them), one idol game for some reason (his oshi looks suspiciously like Mayu), song covers, ASMR by popular demand (his voice is calming, hypnotic even - you have to admit). He uses a png of plate of curry as his avatar, and it made him go viral because why does this plate of curry have such a beautiful voice?? Seasonal outfits include different toppings/a different plate/different shapes of carrot slices. His "starting soon" screen is the curry rotating inside a microwave. He's commonly known as "Whisper-san."

ASMR was also unfortunately why Jamil's voice was so easily recognized from one single sentence because his fans are very… attuned to/sensitive to it, so the moment he opened his mouth people were like “IS THAT WHISPER-SAN, I’D RECOGNIZE THAT SMOOTH SULTRY VOICE ANYWHERE.”

His poor mod has too many comments to ban, they be monitoring his thirsty ass chat looking like this ⬇️. Every day there is a new phrase about their carnal desires.

Mod guy is either some nameless rando or... Ruggie, who got hired not knowing what he was getting himself into.

Ruggie: I'll take any job if you pay well New DM received: Can you moderate a livestream chat? Ruggie: Sure can yesiree (worst decision of his life)

Mayu tried to laugh The Incident off as “Aha uh um that’s my uh. Roommate.” (nobody believed her)

There is a camp of fans who thought it was cute and made fanart of Jamil's very malewife sentence (he has never done a face reveal, but people draw fanart based on tidbits of information revealed in streams, such as him having long hair)

Meanwhile there are crazy fans going back to Jamil’s videos and combing through every single sentence he’s ever uttered about his not-so-secret partner now

Imagine they have a cat (Grim) and there is a very very faint sneeze in the background of one of his vids and these people are like “WAIT it sounds like Rice-chan”

Some take it to the TWST version of 4chan to post images of them burning Mayu’s merch for this great betrayal 💀

Jamil: (staring at their channels' tanking stats) ..........I was careless, I’m sorry.

Someone very observant out there (Idia) who watches both of them called it months ago, but nobody believed them. They posted a long detailed thread with “evidence” but nobody gave af 💔

There is one crackshipper out there who is happy their ship is real (Rook)

Idk who drops the first apology Google doc, but if they post at around the same time some people are gonna go “They fucking synced their apology docs they're just rubbing it in our faces,” there is no winning

Phainon feels absolute dread wash over him when he hears your footsteps approach the room he’s currently in. No one in the chat notices how pale he gets and how sweat starts dripping down his face, because if anyone knows you exist, hell might aswell unleash.

He’s a popular streamer for a reason. Pretty face, pretty voice, a body craved by the Gods themselves and—oh—Yeah, good at games too.

People love him a lot, sometimes too much to the point where he wonders if having a face cam was a bad idea. It definitely does bring him money, and he appreciates the donations he gets but if it means accidentally revealing his own partners face.

He does not want the face cam!

The door opens, and Phainon forgets why he was so worried in the first place when he sees you standing there in his t-shirt and pants. They’re a bit too big on you but it’s not a surprise when Phainon is massive. He completely ignores how the chat starts moving at an insane speed when they start hearing someone speak.

“It’s 2 in the morning, Phai.” The streamer nervously chuckles while scratching the back of his neck, “Was I loud?” His question makes you sigh, and start walking inside, shutting the door behind you.

fagtron300: WHO IS THAT

dizzyeyes: DONT TELL ME

hollourple: IS THAT HIS ROOMMATE

“No, but you need to sleep.” The chat doesn’t see your face when you walk into the frame, only the midriff of your body as Phainon’s hands find themselves on your waist, staring up at you with puppy eyes that you’re convinced he’s trying to guilt-trip you.

“Come back to bed.” Phainon’s hands on your waist tighten, gulping down a bundle of saliva as your hands reach up and caress his face gently. You always knew how to get a putty Phainon, but Phainon can’t necessarily say no to you whenever you ask for something.

He was planning on going to bed, but his mouse kept moving to the ‘Start Match’ in the bottom right corner of his screen. He definitely regrets not going to bed sooner with you, you’re the love of his life and the reason why he can spoil you is ‘cause of his streaming career.

Phainon couldn’t care less about that when you lean down to kiss his forehead, a stupid smile appearing on his face.

drpepper: NO FUCKING WAY

vhsghost: OMGOMGOMG LOVESICK PHAINON??

glitterglizzy: more like puppy phainon cuz what 😭😭 mf folded

Your eyes caught the chat, and blinked, “Why is the chat moving so fast?” Phainon freezes up, slowly turns to eye the camera facing him and currently on, “I’m streaming…” Both of you snap your heads to look at eachother, and before he knows it, you’ve jumped out of his arms and far away from the camera.

“You had your face cam on!?” You questioned with panic in your voice. Phainon waves his hands in the air, “I was going to tell you before you came in!” Your eye twitched, pointing a finger at him.

“So they saw me?” Phainon’s eyes drifts to the chat before slowly nodding, “And heard you too…” Your heart drops straight to your ass as your face buries it into your hands, “Phainon!” He curls into himself with a pouty look.

“I forgot! You kissed me and made me feel stupid!”

“This is my fault!?”

Phainon huffs with a pout and turns back to his stream, staring at it for ten seconds before ending it abruptly. The headphones are tossed off his head and he picks you up, tossing you over his shoulder without you fighting back, minus the groan you let out when you now know the entire internet might as well know you now.

Streamer ‘Khasnon,’ also known as ‘Phainon,’ reveals his partner on stream last night after they enter his room. He tweets the morning of to not harass them and to please not dig up their socials until they’re ready to appear on screen.

sparkleshaft: let me into the relationship please😢 replying — fariedoll: PLEASE SPEED I NEED THIS😭😭😭

Phainon watches as you pout and create shapes onto the bare skin of his chest. He sighs and lets himself stare at the ceiling while his hand moves up and down your back, bringing you closer to him.

Yeah, he definitely hates the face cam.

Instead, she’d looked over at you. For eight entire seconds. That was it. No touching. No flirting. No epic love confession. Just Ellie watching you ramble about a fictional cult while looking suspiciously fond of the fact that you were rambling at all.

The clip spread through both fandoms within a day.

By the end of the week, people were slowing it down, zooming in, drawing circles around her face, and making compilations with titles like “Ellie Williams forgetting she’s on camera for six minutes straight.”

You’d laughed so hard the first time you saw one that you nearly fell out of your chair. Ellie had not found it nearly as funny.

“They’re insane.”

You could hear the irritation in her voice even through the Discord call.

“They’ve been insane for years.” you snort, leaning back in your chair.

“No, this is a different kind of insane.”

You grinned at your monitor. “Why are you suddenly so upset about this?”

There was a pause. “I may have watched a few compilations… for context.”

“Ellie Williams, you know better than to subscribe to fan conspiracies about you” you berate, feigning exaggerated astonishment.

“Stop— I needed to know what people were saying.” She says quickly.

You laughed, and her response came as a muffled groan into what you assumed was a pillow. It was endearing when she got like this—and maybe you liked teasing her just to hear her voice go all high-pitched and indignant.

“So d’you watch edits of yourself too?”

The silence that followed was answer enough.

“Hmff, as if.”

—

The truth was that neither of you had expected the shipping to get this bad.

People had always paired streamers together. It happened constantly. Spend enough time collaborating with someone and eventually a fan would make a compilation titled proof they’re secretly dating. Usually it died out after a few weeks. This one hadn’t.

If anything, it seemed to be getting worse. Every interaction between you became evidence. Every inside joke, every glance, every time one of you joined the other’s stream unexpectedly.

The audience treated it like an ongoing investigation. Unfortunately, neither of you were helping.

Especially not Ellie.

The problem with Ellie was that she genuinely liked being around you. It wasn’t in a calculated content-creator way, or in a way designed to generate clips for engagement either. She would never do something like that.

She just… liked you. Really liked you.

Which meant she was always there. She’d show up in your streams without saying anything, slipping into frame like she’d been invited, when in truth, you didn’t even know she was in the area. Games you only mentioned in passing somehow ended up in her library before the conversation even moved on.

And at two in the morning, she’d still find you. Something funny would catch her attention and, seconds later, your phone would light up—memes, videos, always tagged, always with you in mind.

She couldn’t help herself. Part of her drifted along in blissful ignorance, too caught up in you to care what anyone else might think. Another part of her was more aware than she liked to admit — selfish enough to let it happen anyway. You didn’t belong to her, of course. But she’d be lying if she said it didn’t feel good when people assumed you were together and backed off.

The audience noticed all of it. You noticed most of it too, though you tried not to think about it, you really did. It was easier to assume it didn’t mean anything than to let yourself read into it and get your hopes up.

But there were only so many times a person could hear ten thousand strangers insist that girl clearly has a crush on you before some small part of their brain started wondering if there might be any truth to it.

The same thing happened in reverse. Because If people loved teasing Ellie, they absolutely adored teasing you. Especially whenever she was around — comments would start the moment she came on stream.

elliesimaginarygf: LOOK WHOS BLUSHING

isaythingsfor20bucks: AHSHAJSHG

thirdwheelinchat: This is like the tenth time she’s fixed her hair

theyrebasicallydatingtrust: Lmao that’s the fastest I’ve ever seen someone lock in

parasocialandproud: I feel like I’m interrupting something…

elliesunpaidtherapist: okay so stop eye fucking, there are kids in chat

the8secondclipgay: I think they did it but I just can’t prove ittt

imwithellie_8: ellie if u don’t make a move soon i will

my_reason_2_stay: stop cause they’re actually so cute

There was no escaping it, and the uncertainty of not knowing was starting to weigh on you more than you wanted to admit.

One evening, you were halfway through a stream when your phone lit up on the desk beside you, vibrating softly. The notification flashed across the screen before fading to the Lock Screen preview. You looked down immediately, there was only one person allowed to bypass dnd, and it was the auburn haired girl herself.

Nothing important, just a blurry photo from Ellie’s shitty phone camera of Joel and Tommy not at each others throats for once, playing guitar together with the caption: watching ur stream rn, wish I was there to beat your ass but I’m stuck with these old farts :(

You couldn’t help the familiar smile that tugged at your lips whenever ellie williams was involved. She’d gone to visit the farm, something about Joel complaining she’d abandoned them now that she was a “big city streamer.” It had only been a week, but god, you missed her. The apartment felt strangely empty without her constantly “stopping by” to bother you. Was your heart supposed to ache this much just because your friend had gone to visit her family? Probably not.

The chat caught onto it immediately, and within seconds your screen was flooded.

justobservinglol: guys it’s her gf texting her

elliesbootycheeks: awww look at how she’s smiling it’s definitely ellie

Fingermetimbers: tell her to come back we miss her

logoffplease: they are 100% dating I swear

truthviapaypal: okay but she’s literally getting shot rn

thirdwheelinchat: TELL ELLIE I SAID HII

brothatsaclip: can we pls respect their privacy like-

elliescanonloveinterest: wedding stream when?

You didn’t even need to read the messages to know what they were about, and you tried not too. It was easier that way, you could pretend it wasn’t happening, they were just jokes, just chat being chat.

The worst part is they weren’t entirely wrong. They were right, actually. Spot on. You liked Ellie. You’d known it for a while. You weren’t stupid.

She was funny and clever and infuriatingly easy to talk to. She understood your world in a way most people didn’t, conversations with her never felt like work. Hours would disappear without either of you noticing, it was just you and her.

Somewhere along the way, the line between friendship and something more had started to blur. You just hadn’t done anything about it. As far as you knew, neither had she.

Which was why the next stream ended up being significantly more embarrassing than it should have been.

—

The two of you were playing a casual game together while chatting with your audiences. No huge event, just one of those comfortable streams where conversation wandered naturally from topic to topic.

“My initials are literally ew, I’ve actually just been set up for failure”

You stifle a laugh, shaking your head “that’s also what most people say when they see you”

There’s a beat of silence before she reacts.

“wow— actually, fuck off. Do you guys see how mean she is to me?”

ellie1ovesu: lmaoooo

elliesfuturewife: got em

marrymeellie: 😭😭😭

Fingermetimbers: ellie she clocked your ass

brothatsaclip: uh oh the parents are fighting

totallynormalviewer: nooooo I would never say that

readthisor69else: lowkey kinda mean😬

You smile, covering your mouth to hide it and leaning into your seat. “Okay, okay, I’m kidding.”

You cut it off before she can spiral into theatrics, the way she always does when she’s got an audience.

“Actually not fair,” she continues anyway. “I literally can’t even insult you because I can’t think of anything bad.”

brothatsaclip: awwwwww

marrymeellie: she’s so down bad chat

6767_eli: submissive as hell

platonicallyconcerned: I’m so jealous rn

elliesfuturewife: she’s so obviously in love with her like don’t play

At some point, somebody donated specifically to ask Ellie about the shipping. Not unusual, people who didn’t know how to mind their business did that constantly.

Ellie read the message and immediately rolled her eyes. “Chat seriously?”

You knew that tone. “What is it this time?”

You heard her adjust her headset before sighing. “They want to know if we’re secretly married.”

You snorted. “If we are, that’s news to me— I don’t see a ring.” You held your hand up to the camera, wiggling your empty fingers for emphasis.

“No, we are not secretly married, guys,” you clarify, a little more serious now.

realelliehours_247: yeah right

ellieclips: sureeee whatever you say wink wink

plsnoticeme: yeah guys they’re “not married”

imwithellie_8: I mean she could’ve just taken it off before stream

youignoredme: actually they are married I was the minister

ellieandyou4ever: so who proposed first?

altacc: okay maybe not married but definitely dating

“Chat” you groan, dragging a hand over your face. “Oh my god— do I need to say it louder?”

Ellie’s laugh crackles through your headset. “pfft I don’t think volume is the issue.”

Unfortunately, she was right. You’d both denied it plenty of times, but nobody believed you. In fact, every denial only seemed to make people more convinced. And you especially hated talking about it in front of Ellie, because it never felt like you were just shutting chat down, it felt like you were shutting something between you down.

Ellie skimmed another message and huffed into the mic. They were too much even for the mods—you just had to accept it.

imstillhere: please just kiss alreadyy

sunshinegirl1: you can cliterally cut the tension with a knife

no1shipper: my fave slow burn friends to lovers

You nearly choked when she started reading them out loud.

“Ellie.”

“What?” She asked innocently, like she didn’t know exactly what she was doing.

“Stop reading them.”

“They paid money.” she shrugs “jus’ doing my job princess”

yurilovr: GUYS

isaythingsfor20bucks: ITS HAPPENING!! 😻

elliewtf: “princess” no fuckibg way

werallgay: okay she’s doing it on purpose now

imwithellie_8: girl since when

parasocialandproud: HDJAHSVDHAIHDJH

my_reason_2_stay: SINCE WHEN DID ELLIE LEARN HOW TO FLIRT??

plsnoticeme: omgomgomgomg

theyrebasicallydatingtrust: someone check in on my girl guys

111dana: she’s so red omfg😭

You rub a hand over your face, trying not to look as flustered as you actually are, on live, with hundreds of people watching. It definitely isn’t the first time Ellie’s called you something like that, but it’s the first time she’s done it on stream. All you can do is ignore the chat and try to move on.

“I would honestly give the money back.”

That only made her laugh harder. Eventually, the conversation settled as you got more into the game—a relief, finally—but you were already bracing yourself for whatever edits would come out of it later.

while waiting in a matchmaking queue, Ellie went unusually quiet. The silence stretched just long enough to become noticeable. Long enough that you glanced toward her stream preview on your second monitor. She was staring at her chat. Of course.

“Els, you good?” you question.

“Huh? Oh– yeah,” There’s a small pause where you wait for her to continue. “Just adjusting these settings.”

no1shipper: lol she was asking her chat if u were blushing😭

elarchive: I swear she is not slick

imwithellie_8: she wanted to know if you got flustered girl

438_ll: LMAOO they’re telling on you

plsnoticeme: she’s lyyying

you’re reading chat when the abrupt sound of her laughter pulls your focus back.

“Y’know what’s funny?”

“hm? Tell me.”

“They genuinely think one of us is going to confess our love on stream.”

Your stomach drops slightly. You react too quickly to it, too aware of why. You force a laugh. “I think you guys watch way too many movies.”

“Definitely.”

Neither of you say anything after that. For a moment, all you could hear was the game’s menu music.

The matchmaking queue popped up at the perfect moment. Both of you latch onto it immediately. The subject vanished. The game continued, and the stream ended a few hours later. Nothing happened. No confession. No dramatic reveal.

But that night, lying in bed with your phone balanced on your chest, you’re watching Ellie’s vod from the same stream when your phone pings. Her name flashes across the screen. You click on the notification immediately.

confessing on stream would be wild, huh?

come unlock the door, I’m outside.