Chapter Text
Edgar had let him be for Christmas. Luca had, without thinking, scheduled a Christmas evening gaming stream. It would've been completely normal had it not been for the fact that it was Luca's first Christmas together with Edgar.
The mistake was not just major but also terrifying. The look on Edgar's face was something he didn't want to see anymore. Luca had sworn they were through after he relayed to the man his plans for the evening.
"...what are you doing?" Edgar asked that afternoon as soon as he arrived at Luca's room in the OPH team house.
Luca was halfway through dressing up in a silly red and green sweater that bore his main character's face on it.
Luca was oblivious. He smiled wide at his boyfriend, waving at him as he pulled the sweater down. He quickly ran to the man who was bringing a box with him, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "What brought you here today?"
Edgar stared at him, dumbfounded. "It's Christmas, Luca."
"Yes!" Luca agreed. "I've been waiting for tonight. The stream's gonna be so nice. I got this new banner and emote that just screams Christmas. Literally!"
"Are you being real with me right now?" Edgar raised a brow.
"Um, yes? I know I didn't tell you about it, but that's because I wanted to surprise you with it in case you wanted to watch live," Luca responded.
"Watch your stream live on Christmas?" Edgar asked.
Luca chuckled nervously, starting to sense that something was wrong. "...yes. Unless, of course, you had plans! That's fine too!"
"Are you stupid? My plans are with you! I told you this weeks ago!" Edgar lashed out, "I told you this already. I booked a nice dinner in a place with an aquarium because you said you wanted an aquarium date. I even got us the nice seats! We had to be there at 9 PM sharp, don't you remember? Luca!"
Luca paled, not because he had forgotten—no, he knew exactly that they had a dinner date together and to wear neat clothes to it—but because he got the date wrong.
"I-I thought you meant..." Luca gulped. "Christmas Day."
Edgar sighed exasperatedly. "Why would I book a dinner until midnight if it's not leading to the 25th!"
Edgar rambled on and on about how they had it in both their calendars and plans for a long time, longer than the actual booking itself. At the end, he looked at Luca with complete hurt in his eyes.
"Are you not ready to take me seriously?"
Luca scrambled to find something to give comfort to Edgar. "I do, I do; I just really got it wrong."
He took the box from Edgar's hand, placing it on his desk. He pulled Edgar in for a tight hug, gently kissing the top of the man's head.
"I'm sorry," Luca muttered into Edgar's hair, "I fucked up really bad."
Edgar was still sulking, but Luca's embrace didn't come unwanted. "Yeah, you did."
"I'll make up for it, okay? I'll end the stream early so we can make it. I can-, I can start it now! The agency's gonna understand." Luca nodded. "And besides, I'm not the only one streaming. Lily is too, so she can cover for me."
Luca had made the second mistake that night: making Edgar think that the situation could be better.
Edgar ran to Luca's bed at that point, staying at the very corner of it, clutching his phone as he hugged his knees close to his chest.
It was nearing 9 already, and Luca's stream had no signs of stopping. He tried to get the donations to quickly pile up an hour into his stream, hoping that achieving the goal would make the agency think he could leave early. The clock struck 9, and Luca was still stuck in the streaming room, unable to leave.
His heart dropped the moment the clock hit 9:01. The display on the screen glared at him with contempt, fully knowing that he had broken the heart of his lover and number one fan. Luca would've ended the stream if he had enough power to not lose his position in the team, but with only this one thing going on in his life, he couldn't risk it.
He had already imagined Edgar all alone in his room, thinking the exact same thing, or maybe more. Luca hoped this wasn't a deal breaker for Edgar.
The clock ticked to 10, and Luca was still trying his best to look cheerful to his audience. He understood the intention of the agency—to stream to those who didn't have people to spend time with during the holiday, but it didn't consider the fact that he had someone waiting for him that year, unlike all other years before that he spent with them.
Luca sighed as he saw that he had brought a loss to the team, a sigh that didn't truly mean that he was upset about losing but that he was upset about the situation he was stuck in.
At 11 pm, his chat was much more lively than when he had started. He underestimated the plans that his agency made for him. He was thriving in the best sense, but his mind was elsewhere.
Eventually, his audience noticed that he wasn't fully immersed in the game, so he decided to switch. He chose a much lighter game, one that didn't involve screaming, winning, or losing. One that was just cozy enough to prepare him for the lengthy apology that he was supposed to do immediately after his stream ended.
"You know, chat, I forgot a really important thing today," Luca spoke softly into his microphone as his character planted seedlings of pink poppies around his small home. "Now don't be like me and forget to do important stuff in life because it can hurt people. And sometimes, there are more important things in life than games."
Luca smiled weakly at the sight of his home's well-decorated exterior. He laughed, reading the messages from his audience. "Do I regret it? I absolutely do! I would've been in a really nice place right now with a really nice-looking date if it wasn't for me messing up."
Messages of worry and concern from his audience flooded his inbox, all asking if they were still alright and would be alright after tonight.
"Well I hope so." Luca chuckled nervously. "I swear I'm gonna make up for every day of the year starting tomorrow."
Luca's smile widened as he read a message from a familiar username, one that only watches and would message once at the very end of his stream.
I'll look forward to it
"Yes! I swear I'm gonna give you everything!" Luca was energized, ready to push through until the end.
And then there was one minute left until midnight.
"Oh, I can't believe we've been playing for six hours," Luca piped up as he switched from his last game of the night to a tab of a Christmas countdown. It was one that their agency set up for all streamers in their group that night, and Lily's and Naib's voices could be heard from their private call being shared to their individual streams.
"It's at times like this that you do have to reflect, though," Luca continued, "Maybe it's because it's late and I'm getting sleepy that I get to think of deep stuff."
"Mhm." Lily agreed. "It's been a great year."
"Absolutely! We didn't get to go to championships this year, but it was great progress from last year," Luca replied.
"A little more kiting practice and we'd be in semis," Naib commented which earned a laugh from Luca.
"Hey, it's not me if I don't get a terror shock every once in a while," Luca responded, "And besides, you'll rescue me, won't you?"
"Ooh! It's starting!" Lily's voice filled the stream as she started counting down from ten.
The other two joined in with her, voices getting louder and jollier as the time dragged closer and closer to 00. The moment it struck 12:00, Luca greeted a loud "Merry Christmas" to his stream before waving goodbye and letting Lily and Naib take over for their wishes.
Luca got up from his seat, leaving his chat stunned at how fast Luca left his stream, the messages of greetings still flooding in. Luca ran out of his streaming room, all the way over to his bedroom, and threw himself onto his bed. He pulled Edgar close, the man still not moving from his corner, his phone clearly showing Luca's abandoned stream.
"End your stream, dummy," Edgar spoke without sharpness in his tone. He cuddled close to Luca, who only ever wanted to have Edgar in his arms the entire time.
"It can wait," Luca replied, pecking Edgar's face and filling it with light kisses. "Merry Christmas, Eddie! I'm gonna make it up to you so good you won't forget about it."
Edgar poked his cheek. "You better. That reservation was hard to get. I had to pull some strings for it."
Luca nodded, rubbing the side of his face to Edgar's. "I promise! You're gonna have the best days from now on. No exceptions. You are and will always be my top priority."