Work Text:
Tommy knows he's not doing this because of pressure from his fans. Really, if it was that, it would have happened a long time ago. It just so happens that Tommy isn't a kid anymore, hasn't been one for a long time, so there's no need to hide his face from the world for fear of danger anymore.
Even so, people tend to think he's a child -- even his friends sometimes forget that he's not actually a sixteen-year-old kid who somehow got a hold of a pretty solid recording booth and who's still living with his parents. No, he's an actual functioning adult -- a Big Man as he likes to call himself.
Even so, he doesn't feel like a big man when he stares at the mask he's had on for so long in the mirror. It's his trademark mask, the one that everyone knows to immediately connect back to him. Maybe now he'll make it a headband or a shirt to keep the trademark but..
He's been wanting to do this for a while now. He can't stay in his bathroom forever; his stream is still waiting for him to return. Wilbur is waiting for him to return so that they can fuck around in a Minecraft world. Wilbur is waiting.
Pushing back his wavy curls from falling into his face, he takes off the mask. He feels so weird, so disconnected from the person he is underneath the public persona. Now, if he goes outside and tries to blend in, he might be recognized by fans. Even so, it's not like he's particularly ashamed of his facial features, so after double-checking that he looks fine, alright for chat to see (maybe more than fine for Wilbur to see), he steps out of the bathroom and walks over to sink into his gaming chair.
He pulls out his facecam. He double-checked to make sure it worked before the stream even started, but he turns it on now, and pulls it onto the screen, to the right. Finally, everything is ready, and all he needs to do is hit the button to get rid of his Away screen, and---
"Tommy's taking forever," Wilbur's voice comes through his headphones, as he complains to his own stream. "How long does it take that kid to get a glass of water?"
Perfect segue.
"Hey!" Tommy unmutes and clicks the button. Here goes nothing. "I'm not a kid, you fucker."
"You act like it sometimes," Wilbur jokes. "Kinda hard to remember when you act like a little brother begging for attention."
Normally, Tommy would have a snarky response to that, but he's looking at his chat flying by. They're freaking out and he knows that this moment will likely be clipped for that one YouTube channel. Even more likely is the fact that equal amounts of screaming are going on in his Discord server and his social media pings.
There's a lot of comments calling him a pretty boy. He hated being called that during school, but for some reason, now as he's comfortable with himself, there's a warm feeling bubbling inside of him at those words.
"Why is my chat screaming about you, Tommy?" Wilbur chuckles lowly. "Do I need to check your stream to make sure you aren't doing anything naughty?"
"Maybe you should," Tommy tries to snark loudly, but it comes out more nervously than he wanted it to. In truth, he just wants Wilbur to acknowledge him. He probably just thinks Tommy is pulling a prank on him, but he hasn't done anything. His Minecraft is still paused as his avatar is stuck two blocks underground with dirt covering the hole.
"Okay, you asked for it."
Quickly, Tommy has the brilliant idea to open up Wilbur's stream. It's on his bookmarks page so it's easy enough, and now he won't have to wait for a VOD to come out for him to see Wilbur's reaction to what he sees.
He can only hope that Wilbur will like what he sees.
Wilbur, as attractive as he always looks, is squinting at his screen, seemingly trying to pull up his stream to check on Tommy. He sits back for a moment, waiting for the page to load.
"Tommy, you better not be pranking m--"
He cuts himself off with a gasp, and Tommy can't help but smile awkwardly a little bit.
Wilbur's frozen, looking at his second monitor. His eyes trail back and forth on the screen, making Tommy shiver slightly knowing that his best friend is looking him up and down. Tommy watches his Adam's apple move slightly, and his tongue dart out to wet his lips.
"Fuck," is the only thing Wilbur says, his eyes still locked onto his second monitor. "You're fucking... woah.... so that's what you look like," he mumbles absentmindedly, almost as if he had completely and entirely forgotten that they're live to thousands of people.
Tommy shifts in his seat a little, somehow now conscious of Wilbur's eyes on him. It doesn't matter that hundreds and thousands of people's eyes are on him; it only matters to him when it's Wilbur, and only Wilbur.
"Is that a good thing?" Tommy mumbles, almost breathless.
Somehow suddenly conscious of the fact that Tommy is probably watching his stream, Wilbur finally spares his webcam a glance. There's something sparkling in his eyes as he says those eight wonderful words.
"Yeah, you're perfect, you know that, TommyInnit?"
Tommy's vision focuses solely and only on the monitor showing Wilbur's face, looking wholly and completely serious. He doesn't need chat to tell him; he knows that he looks absolutely besotted, with his red face and love-struck eyes.