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“Alright, that’s all for today guys!” Although no one can see it, the blonde boy makes a peace sign at his computer, then switches to OBS studio and ends the stream. He then sighs and removes his headset, then opens his browser and navigates to Twitter, where he clicks 'Tweet.'
Q-Ta @q_ta099 . 5s
Thank you everyone who joined today’s stream! It was really fun, and I hope you all had fun too.
As he normally did when he tweeted, he threw in a cat gif for good measure. It received about 100 likes in less than a minute, and he didn't even bat an eye; instead, he immediately closed Twitter after tweeting. Making updates before and after streams was second nature to him; it was so much a part of his routine that he would even do it on auto-pilot.
He was still in the mood for gaming even though he had completed his stream for the day, and he knew exactly who to invite to play with.
Rei opens the Discord app and is instantly greeted with his DMs with FlowerBoy Noppo, a friend of his. Noppo is a streamer as well, and the two met a few months ago. Rei has no idea what his real name is, though he doesn't mind. They're only online friends, so knowing everything about one other isn't necessary.
[q_ta099] hey! wanna play minecraft or smth?
Rei sent the message and waited for a reply. Noppo took a while to answer at times, but Rei doesn't mind.
To pass the time and occupy his hands while he waited, he took out his phone and opened Slampa, a mobile gacha game based on the popular irl game called Tin Pin from a few years ago, also known as Tin Pin Sla —
[flowerboy] yo
[flowerboy] idk if i can rn
Rei’s head perks up as he hears the beeps and he reads the messages. That’s when he realizes Noppo’s status message about currently streaming minecraft. Oops.
[q_ta099] oh sorry i didnt realize you were streaming
[flowerboy] its chill its chill
[flowerboy] u could always join
For a moment, Rei remained silent. He's debating whether or not to accept his offer, and he's already stopped streaming. Perhaps that would be a pleasant surprise for fans, and he does want to play with Noppo...
[q_ta099] sure!!
[q_ta099] send me the ip ^^
And so, Noppo does and Rei opens minecraft and joins the game. He is greeted by Noppo's Minecraft character. Rei smiles, and in game, he punches the air to wave to Noppo's audience.
[flowerboy] lets vc
[flowerboy] easier than typing lmao
[q_ta099] you just don’t wanna admit that you can’t type in game bc you dont own a keyboard
[flowerboy] stfu i can ban you
Rei laughs and clicks the call button, hearing Noppo briefly speak to his chat before welcoming him as 'Q-ta.' Rei comes to the conclusion from Noppo's reaction to chat that they are delighted to see Q-ta on stream.
“One moment,” Rei starts, “Gonna pull up your stream so I can see chat too.” Rei does as he says, moving his hands to his second laptop to pull up Noppo’s stream. “There!”
“Wow, so quick. What, do you have my twitch account on auto-fill?” Noppo teases.
“I mean, at this point with how much we collab, yes! Always having to pull up your stream just so I can know what’s going on.” Rei laughs.
He notices how swiftly the chat moves, with some users laughing and others greeting Q-ta, and some even claiming to have just joined Noppo's stream after Q-ta had finished his.
“Someone’s popular.” Noppo shoots at him with what sounds like a smirk, punching his character in game.
They play Minecraft for about an hour or so, play fighting with each other, going on adventures, and trying out some challenges suggested by Noppo's chat, all of which they fail miserably at. Of course, every stream must come to an end, and Noppo makes his closing statement before the stream is closed.
Rei and Noppo talk on the voice chat for a while longer before Rei realizes he hasn't eaten anything all day. He tells Noppo he's going to get something to eat before hanging up.
For a brief moment, Rei sits in front of his computer, allowing the silence of his empty apartment to consume him. After a few minutes, he removes his headset and rises from his desk, heading for the kitchen.
Hm, something simple...I don’t feel like cooking too much today. Rei debates, snooping around his own kitchen in the pantry and the fridge. He then spots rice, and he immediately starts craving it.
He grabs it and begins to prepare it, humming a song to himself while he does so. Since he lived alone, he didn't have to worry about being too loud or being overheard.
Honestly, that fact should be a bit worrying… Rei’s mind wanders as he washes the rice.
A 15 year old, living by himself...It’s always been like this, though.
The more Rei thinks about his parents, the more his mind starts to spiral, so he pulls out his phone and turns on some music to distract himself.
He is in the process of cooking the rice when his music is interrupted by a ding. He pulls out his phone to see what it is, expecting it to be a simple Twitter notification, but it isn't. It's Noppo!
[flowerboy] ik u said u were eating, but i wanted to let u know that i had fun today
Rei's face brightens as he reads the sentence; it was a simple message, but it made him happy.
[q_ta099] dw!
[q_ta099] my foods still cooking so its fine
[q_ta099] i had alot of fun too! Playing games with you is always fun, esp on stream
[flowerboy] im glad u had a good time even tho u wanted to play normally
[flowerboy] not on stream i mean kskwkwskksskwk
[q_ta099] no dw! Playing with you in anyway is very fun dw
Rei is so caught up in texting Noppo that he doesn't realize how long he's been chatting with him. He only notices when he hears loud sizzles and the smell of burnt rice coming from the stove.
“Huh?! Crap crap crap -” He nearly throws his phone while attempting to place it down, and he quickly switches off the burner, letting out a sigh of relief that he caught it before it continues to overflow and burn his rice.
He finishes his rice and pours it into a bowl, which he then takes to his desk. To the empty apartment, he exclaims, "Let's eat!" and digs in.
In the middle of eating, he remembers he never responded to Noppo, and so he quickly opens his phone once more to tell him what an idiot he was for almost burning his rice, and Noppo, of course, playfully mocks him for it.
Despite the fact that they had only known each other for a few months, they were already very comfortable being playfully mean to one another. That was simply how Noppo was, and it took Rei some time to adjust to the jokes, but they eventually got along.
It took about a week or so to get things going with them. Mikan, a mutual friend, had introduced them and said that he believed they'd get along. sThey had a group chat with Mikan in which they all talked every now and again, but Mikan was generally the only one who spoke, while the other two responded to what he said. Rei had attempted to approach Noppo in DMs on a few occasions, but the interactions had never lasted.
It continued on for a few days before Rei decided to try something different. He had a good idea of Noppo's tastes based on Mikan's comments about him, so he came across a song that he felt Noppo would enjoy.
This resulted in a socially awkward DM about the song, complete with a Youtube and Spotify link. Rei had no idea how to recommend the song to him because he could have already heard it, or he could be uninterested in that sort of music and Rei had assumed incorrectly, so many possibilities were swirling around in Rei's thoughts at the time...
However, Noppo ended up liking the song and provided Rei his thoughts on it, and the two of them discussed it for a while, which led to questions, which led to more talking and actual conversations.
After a few weeks of chatting and getting to know each other, Rei and Noppo decided to try to collaborate. In which, the collab was widely received by both of their fan bases, and they both gained new followers and supporters as a result of their initial collab.
Rei smiles tenderly as he recalls all of the past times; it's incredible how you can make such good friends through the internet... Unlike Mikan and another mutual friend of Rei's, Snow, who were all irls; he has no idea what Noppo looks like or what his real name is, but he still considers him a dear friend.
Before he knew it, his rice was gone.
“Talking with Q-Ta today was fun,” The blonde haired boy mumbles as he slips under the blanket in his bed, remembering all the hilarious moments from their stream today… He left a VOD up, so perhaps he will go back in the morning and rewatch a bit of the stream, even if hearing his own voice makes him cringe. Or maybe some fans will have uploaded some compilations by the morning.
Either way, what matters now is sleep even if it’s just a waste of time.
Tobi grabs his phone to check notifications before going to bed, his phone nearly blinds him when he turns it on and he hurriedly turns down the brightness.
When his eyes readjust, the first thing he sees is a text from Q-Ta saying goodnight. A smile creeps its way up onto Tobi’s face.
[flowerboy] sleeping already?
Q-Ta takes a moment to respond, which prompts Tobi to type another message.
[flowerboy] gnnn sleep well
Only then is when he notices the time. 1 am? Q-Ta is usually asleep before this time. Then again, he sent that an hour ago and he’s offline, so…
[q_ta099] tried and failed 😔
Ah, there he is.
[flowerboy] dang
[flowerboy] same here tho
[q_ta099] maybe its bc youre still awake
[flowerboy] what? Do i have to sleep so you can sleep?
[flowerboy] lmao
[q_ta099] maybe!!! u never know!!
Tobi lets out a laugh.
[flowerboy] ur right
[flowerboy] well i could stay up w/ u and keep u company
[q_ta099] im always right
[q_ta099] nooo you dont have to
[flowerboy] too bad im doing it anyway
Tobi does as he says, and the two stay up another hour or so chatting about stuff. About the stream, about games, about their own Minecraft world and what to build on it next, and just about little things in general.
Q-Ta notes that he has to wake up early the next day, likely for school, as Tobi is aware that he is also a minor. As a result, the subject shifts to school. Q-Ta complains about the fact that he has too much homework and that some of his classmates are rude, and Tobi sympathizes with him.
Tobi admits that he has a lot of homework as well, but that it is mostly easy. He also admits to making his sister or her girlfriend to 'help' him with his homework on occasion. Tobi also adds that because he attends online school, he doesn't have to deal with mean kids, albeit his sister can make up for the lack of terrible kids.
The next thing they know, so much time has passed and both of them are struggling to stay awake, even after complaining about not being able to sleep only an hour before.
[q_ta099] we rlly should sleep sshsjfkgld
[q_ta099] its getting so late i have school tmmror
[flowerboy] but i like tlakigtou
[flowerboy] tlking to u
[flowerboy] ignore me
[q_ta099] noppo struggle messages SHDHSDKJS
[flowerboy] damn if that isnt an acc on twit already id be surprised lmao
[q_ta099] same same
[flowerboy] if not one for me there should def be one for u considering how u are
‘q_ta099 is typing…’ pops up for a moment before disappearing. It then pops up again before he sends a message shortly after.
[q_ta099] was gonna say that’s mean but actually youre very right
[flowerboy, replying to q_ta099: im always right ] im always right
Q-Ta then sends a normal keyboard smash, and Tobi goes to send one back but his hand slips and he nearly drops his phone. Luckily, he catches it. Unluckily, he hears the Discord ringing sound. Even MORE unluckily, he sees his own face when he looks back at the screen.
He hit video call.
He quickly puts his finger in front of his phone camera, and goes to press ‘End Call’, but…
He sees Q-Ta.
He sees Q-Ta.
It’s only for a second before Q-Ta yelps and exits the call, but his face is burned into Tobi’s mind. It was dark, sure, but Tobi could still make out his face shape. His messy hair, (is he remembering weirdly from sleep deprivation, or did his hair actually look like cat ears?) his round eyes… His hair was light, so was his skin… His eyes were some sort of purple, and -
[q_ta099] shit i didnt mean to accept the call
[flowerboy] no its fine i didnt mean to call inthe first place
[q_ta099] it happens its fine
[q_ta099] you saw me tho, didnt u?
Fuck.
He navigates to a different DM, Da_Zen, an irl of his.
[flowerboy] toko toko toko toko toko
[flowerboy] ph mygod respond please
It may be 3 am but come on why isn’t she RESPONDING?
Tobi waits a few more minutes before pressing the call button. It rings a few times before she finally picks up.
“ Yes?” Toko responds, sounding annoyed but not tired. She clearly wasn’t sleeping, only ignoring him. “It’s 3:12 am, call me later.”
“No, this is important,” Tobi sighs, used to this behavior from her.
“I’m not gonna listen to you complain about your sister again, it’s 3 am, this is ridiculous.”
“It’s not about her! I swear!” He groans, “It’s about Q-Ta.”
“Oh, your friend?” Hearing his name, Toko’s tone gets more chill, “What about him? Get into a fight or something?”
“That’s not it. I, uh…” He pauses, suddenly getting a wave of self consciousness since he called Toko up
just
to tell her that he saw his face. “I saw him.” He finally says after a moment.
“Oh?” She says with a smirk in her voice, “You saw him, that’s what this is about? What, did he send you a photo or something? Newsflash, asshole, that’s not anything new.”
“Shut up, he didn’t send a photo, he just -”
I could’ve screenshotted it… Then it’d be a photo… agh, no, that’s disrespectful!
“I accidentally video called him, and he accidentally picked up… I only saw him for a second, but -”
But he was cute…
Tobi trails off after that thought, his face heating up. He is so glad that Toko can’t see him right now, or else he would never live this down.
“But what?” Toko starts after a moment, “Don’t leave me hanging~” She chuckles mischievously. “What, did you find him cute? Got yourself a little crush on your Minecraft boyfriend?”
“Ughhh…” Tobi slaps his hand onto his face. “Shut up.”
“Ohh, that must mean I’m right then.” She laughs a bit, “You called me at 3 am just to tell me you’re Minecraft boyfriend is cute and that you’re gay.”
“Listen, I know , Just…” He pauses and lets out another groan.
“Yeah yeah, I know.” Toko says before Tobi can say anything else. “Anyway, it’s… it’s 3 am. There’s too much to unpack here. G’night, loser.”
She hangs up immediately after. Of course.
Tobi sighs as he returns to his DMs with Q-Ta. He had sent a couple more texts, one of which said he was heading to bed.
God… He should do the same.
Some days have passed since Tobi saw Q-Ta, the two haven’t really talked about it or mentioned it since it happened, and Toko keeps hanging up on Tobi every time he tries to talk about it. Tobi thought it would be strange to bring it up now that it had been a few days, and Q-Ta had only mentioned it the morning after it had happened...
Tobi wonders if Q-Ta is upset that he saw his face… The two are close friends, so surely that wouldn’t be the case, right?
Either way, it’s in the past so there’s no use worrying over it now.
Or… Perhaps there is a bit of use worrying over it. Tobi has been texting Q-Ta at ungodly hours of the night once again. But surely that wouldn't happen again, right? Something like that is highly unlikely to occur again.
His thoughts get interrupted by… The discord ringtone. Q-Ta is video calling him.
What the hell…?
Tobi hesitates for a few seconds, but he ultimately presses the answer button.
What first pops up is Tobi’s face, he lets himself be seen this time. Though, Q-Ta’s end is still loading.
“Hello?” He calls out, quietly. There’s no response from Q-Ta.
Though, his end finally loads… He’s asleep.
Tobi’s face heats up and he moves to press the end call button, but… He ends up stopping himself, staring at Q-Ta for a moment.
He hadn't seen him for very long when he last saw him a few days ago... But now? Even if the camera is off-center, he can see him better.
His room is dark, but he can see that his hair and skin are both light. His hair is unkempt, but it's shaped in such a way that it nicely frames his face... God, his face.
He only saw him in a moment of panic initially, but now he seemed so relaxed… He’s cute.
Shiiiit, just hang up! Stop, this is weird!
He listens to his thoughts and hangs up, putting his face in his hands.
I’m not even going to tell him about this one, he was asleep, it’s FINE. He doesn’t need to know, ughh…
Maybe I need sleep.
—
Rei wakes up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. He reaches towards his phone and checks the time… 11 am? What time did he get to sleep?
To be honest, it didn't matter to Rei. He did, however, have a stream scheduled in about three hours, which means he needs to get up right now or he'll never get up.
He drags himself out of bed and begins his morning routine. He skips the step of getting dressed this time. It's not like he's going somewhere, and his current attire is rather comfy.
Rei sits down at his desk with some instant-ramen for breakfast and turns on his desktop. He shoves some noodles in his mouth as he opens Twitter to check it before streaming. Maybe tweet something while he’s at it -
Who is that?
As he’s scrolling through Twitter, an image of a boy keeps popping up. A streamer as well, by the looks of it. None of the captions say who it is, though. Just freaking out over him.
However, after a bit of scrolling and reloading, a post comes up…
An image of the same boy, but this time he seems to be laughing with the caption: “NOPPO REAL??”
That’s Noppo?!
Rei scrolls into Twitter more to look at the images of him… Where is this from? Is he streaming? Why would he have his camera on??
Eventually, he finds Noppo’s link to the stream. It’s still going! It didn’t start too long ago!
He clicks on it, and… There he is. That’s Noppo. Playing Among Us, making jokes and laughing at his own jokes… It’s normal for him, but this time Rei can actually SEE him and he’s CUTE.
The chat seems to notice he joined as they start going bonkers. This makes Noppo notice that Rei’s there, as well.
“Ah, Q-Ta’s here?” He says, staring blankly to his screen. “Hey! Wanna join me?”
Rei takes a moment before responding to process everything that’s happening.
Q_ta099: nono i have a stream to do soon anyway
Q_ta099: we r gonna together tonight anyway ^^
None of their fans knew about their collab that night, it was supposed to be a surprise. This makes the chat go bonkers once again.
Noppo opens his mouth to respond, probably to tell Rei off for spilling about their surprise stream, but is interrupted by a stabbing sound.
“HUH, WHAT?” Noppo jerks his head to look back at his screen, and he groans. “Fuck… Q-Ta, I’m blaming you for this.”
Rei laughs, but he doesn’t respond. Noppo’s true appearance has been revealed… Rei never thought he’d see him. However, Rei gets snapped out of his thoughts by Noppo’s voice.
“Ah, ‘why do you have your camera on?’” He reads out, “Welll I was video chatting with one of my friends, and I forgot to turn the camera off whenI started the stream, and well… Decided to just roll with it, I guess.” Noppo shrugs with a smile. “Just a small mistake lmao.”
Of course Noppo would do something dumb like that. Good thing Rei wouldn’t have that mistake, he doesn’t even video chat with anyone.
Though, then he remembers the other week where he accidentally video called Noppo and he saw him… Only for a second, but he still did.
Rei isn't bothered, although he does wonder what Noppo thought of his appearance.
He pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind, and he continues to watch Noppo’s stream for a while until it’s time for his own.
Though, when the time comes, he can’t bring himself to start his stream. Instead, he scrolls through Twitter, which is a mistake. He keeps seeing screencaps of Noppo being posted, and it makes Rei’s heart hurt for whatever reason. Other than photos of Noppo, he sees a few tweets from fans asking why Q-Ta’s stream hasn’t started yet.
Rei looks at the time, and it’s… 16 minutes past the time he set. He groans and sets his head on his desk.
I can’t do it today… Ugh, but then I have the collab with Noppo tonight… I can’t, I’m going to have to cancel. But I also need a reason for not coming… I’ll just say I’m sick.
He opens discord and goes to Noppo’s dms, but hesitates… He sighs and moves to Twitter instead.
Q-Ta @q_ta099 . 5s
No stream today! I got a small cold. I’ll try to shoot for tomorrow!
He hits send. No gifs or anything. He clicks back to discord and sends a similar message to Noppo, not thinking or anything, he just wants it over with.
With the feeling of weight off his shoulders, he closes his computer and goes to lay in his bed.
That’s enough for today.
—
A loud thud is all that makes Rei snap. Not once, but twice, but this is the SIXTH time today that has happened. Rei isn't sure what's going on in the apartment above him, but he's had enough.
He takes off his headphones, stands up, and walks out of his apartment. Fortunately, he was playing alone, so it didn't disrupt a stream, but it's still annoying.
Should be the apartment right above mine… SIgh. Why can’t they just be quieter in respect to other people who live here? Ugh, people.
Rei climbs the stairwell to the next floor, where he finds the apartment above him. A little feeling of anxiety washes over him as he came to a halt in front of the door.
However, a thud from behind the door shakes him out of his trance. This can't go on.
He knocks firmly on the door, as if he wants to be sure he gets their attention. He's able to do so because he hears a "shit, brb" from inside the apartment. Before they reach the door, he can hear the unknown person stumble through their apartment.
Rei had planned out all he intended to say to the person... Rei forgets everything he was about to say the moment the door opens and is rendered speechless.
In fact, it’s the ‘mystery person’ who breaks the silence.
“...Q-Ta?” The person says, hesitantly, confirming Rei’s thoughts.
“Noppo…” He breathes out.
“You… How did you find me?” Noppo starts, but then shakes his head, “Wait, let’s go inside. It’d be easier to talk there.”
Noppo leads Rei into his apartment once he nods and agrees. It resembles Rei's, which isn't surprising given that they both reside in the same apartment complex and are close neighbors.
“Okay.” Noppo starts again, sitting on his couch. “How did you find me?”
“Well… I heard loud noises coming from the apartment above mine, so I was gonna come and tell you to be quieter… Speaking of which, how do your neighbors even stand you?” Rei can’t help but to playfully jab at him.
“Pfft, I think they’ve just given up on me.” Noppo laughs, “So, we’re… Kind neighbors?”
“In a way, heh. Who knew that we’d live so close to each other?”
Noppo agrees, and the two exchange some laughs again.
It was a little awkward when they fell silent. Rei was speechless, and it appeared that Noppo was as well, which was unusual for him.
“Hm..” Rei ponders for a moment before finally speaking. “Rei Tsukumo. That’s my name, what about you?”
Noppo looks at him with a look of surprise. Though, he smiles lightly. “Tobi Otogiri.”
“Ah, nice name!” Rei says without speaking, immediately wanting to take that back because really, who the hell says stuff like that?
The other seems to just be amused, however.
“So.” Tobi starts. “I’m playing some MInecraft… Wanna join?”
“Ah - Aren’t you using your webcam, though?” Rei worries, “I haven’t really done a face reveal before…”
“Hm, isn’t it about time to, though? Jokes aside, you don’t have to, but really. It’s not as scary as you might think. Besides, you’re cute. People will like you.”
Rei can feel his face heating up when Tobi says this, and he really wishes blushing wasn’t a thing. Stop that.
Though, despite his anxiety, Rei ultimately agrees to doing to irl collab, and they have fun together.