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The first thing Mike noticed about TwitchCon was how loud it was. Sure, he had been to TwitchCon in his motherland, Germany but here? It was different.
Not just the crowd (even though that was just overwhelming enough), but the constant hum of languages just folding over each other. English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German... It had reminded him of the QSMP itself: chaotic, layered, impossible to fully understand all at once. There were plenty, if not thousands of people waiting for them to come up on the stage… that's how many people have been watching them?
He adjusted the lanyard around his neck, the badge reading Wichtiger catching the light. He wasn’t used to this. Not really. Streaming from his room in Germany was one thing. But being here, surrounded by people who knew his name, was something else entirely.
And then there was Tom.
TommyInnit.
Mike spotted him before he heard him, which was rare. Tom was usually noise first, person second. But right now, he was leaning against a backstage wall near the QSMP panel entrance, bouncing slightly on his heels, fingers tapping against his phone, golden curls that cover his head. This restless energy is contained in a lanky frame. And for once, Micheal Wichtiger had hesitated. He doesn't know whether or not to do it or just… let Tommy do his own thing.
They had spoken for months. Hours of calls. Streams that bled into each other. Jokes that only made sense between them. Jokes that contained the word ‘horny’ but somehow it always had made the both of them laugh. Had collaborated with each other's YouTube videos. A friendship built on late nights and shared servers and the strange intimacy of being seen by thousands yet understood by only one.
But this? This was different. This was real.
Tom looked up and their blue eyes met.
And for a moment, the entire convention seemed to mute.
“Mike?”
Tom’s voice cracked slightly, like he hadn’t expected it to actually be him.
Mike smiled, tentative. “Tom!” He yelled excitedly. There was a beat. One second too long. Then Tom pushed off the wall and ran towards him, “Mate! What the hell, you’re real!” Tom laughed, and then, without asking, he pulled Mike into a hug as they both shared a laugh. It was messy and sudden and a little too tight.
Mike froze for half a heartbeat. Then he hugged back. Tom was warm. Warmer than Mike expected. There was something grounding about it, something that made all the noise of TwitchCon fade into the background. For a moment, Mike forgot about the panel, the crowd, the cameras.
It was just Tom.
“Bloody hell,” Tom mumbled into his shoulder, “you’re taller than I thought.”
Mike huffed a quiet laugh. “You are… exactly as loud as I thought.”
Tom pulled back, grinning. “Oi, rude. I’m charming.”
“Eh, debatable.”
They stood there for a second, still too close, neither quite stepping away. Then someone called for panelists, and the moment broke. Tom put his arm around Mike's shoulder as they both walked inside.
⋆⋆⋆
The QSMP panel was chaos.
As expected.
Streamers lined up across the stage, Vegetta, Luzu, Quackity, Philza, Tina, Foolish, Tubbo, Ashswag, Katie… almost everybody was here! Each of their non-english speaking members has a tiny little earpiece translators in their ear, the delay creating this strange rhythm of speech—pause, translation, reaction. And the audience? Loves it. Might be the next iconic thing to happen in 2026. Laughter came in waves, slightly staggered, like echoes chasing each other.
Mike, however, sat two seats away from Tom.
Close enough to see the way Tom leaned forward when he talked, hands moving animatedly. Close enough to catch the way he’d glance sideways sometimes quick, fleeting looks, like he was checking Mike was still there. And the either of them hoped that anyone in the audience didn't notice.
Every time their eyes met, Tom would grin and Mike would do the saime but every time he does, something in Mike’s chest tightened.
The truth is, it didn't feel unfamiliar. That was the problem.
⋆⋆⋆
After the panel, they escaped.
Not entirely. Anyone at TwitchCon didn’t really allow for that and none of their friends as well, but they found a quieter corner near the back of the venue. A place where the noise had dulled into something more manageable. Something that could be dismissed as background music.
Tom flopped onto the carpeted floor without hesitation.
Mike raised an eyebrow. “You are sitting on the ground.”
“Yeah, mate. Revolutionary concept.” Mike rolled his eyes but sat beside him anyway. For a while, they just… existed.
People passed by. The distant murmur of the convention continued. Sounds of people walking by, people shouting and talking to one another and others taking pictures like it's the best day of their lives. And somewhere, someone had shouted Tommy's name, someone familiar but it never reach them fully.
“This is weird,” Tom said suddenly.
Mike tilted his head. “Weird?”
“Yeah.” Tom picked at a loose thread on his sleeve. “Like, we’ve talked every day for months, right? Streaming with eachother, talking to eachother for hours on end in Discord, and even talking off-stream. And now you’re just… here.”
Mike nodded slowl,. “Ja. It is… strange.”
“Not bad strange,” Tom added quickly. “Just different.”
“Different,” Mike echoed.
Silence settled again. Comfortable this time. Then Tom leaned back on his hands and looked at him properly. Not a quick glance. Not a passing look. A real one.
“You’re… not what I expected,” Tom said.
Mike’s stomach flipped. “Is that good or bad?”
Tom considered it. “Good,” he said finally. “Better, I think.”
Mike looked away, suddenly very aware of everything, his hands, his posture, the way his heart had decided to beat faster for no logical reason. He wanted it to stop but it doesn't. It's strange, maybe a bit weird even. He's aware but he tries hard not to.
“You are also different,” Mike said.
“Oh yeah? How so?”
Mike hesitated. His mouth closed and opened like a fish. Being too honest would be dangerous. He had to be cautious. “Louder,” he settled on. A smile left his lips.
Tom looked at him with shock but then laughed. “Brilliant. Cheers.”
But Mike didn’t say the rest. Warmer. Softer. Easier to be around than anyone should be. And that should be a good thing, right? It is a good thing, after all, hell it's probably the greatest thing. But he's being overdramatic over something Tommy probably doesn't care about.
⋆⋆⋆
They spent the rest of the day together.
Panels blurred into each other. They wandered the expo floor, shared food that they barely tasted, laughed over things that weren’t that funny. Almost looking for each other when they got lost, asking where the other went when they saw one of their friends just walking by. And Iit felt… natural.
Effortless, in a way that scared Mike if he thought about it too much. And at one point, Tom grabbed his wrist to pull him through a crowd. He didn’t let go immediately. Mike didn’t ask him to, because he didn't want to.
By evening, the lights of TwitchCon had softened, casting everything in gold and shadow. They ended up outside, sitting on a low concrete barrier, the noise finally distant enough to think. Some of their friends had already left, the others still talking to each other like it's the end of the world when they have the rest of six days ahead of them.
Tom swung his legs idly. “So.”
“So,” Mike echoed.
Tom glanced at him, then away. Then back again, and this time with a smile on his face. “Glad you came,” he finally said. Mike nodded, another “Me too.” Another pause. This one heavier than the others. Tom exhaled sharply, like he was about to say something reckless.
“Do you ever—” he started, then stopped. “No, that’s stupid.”
“What?”
Tom shook his head. “Nothing.”
Mike studied him for a moment, people's voices echoed like background music as some of them went on to say their goodbyes to their friends, some taking photos and some making their own tiktoks in their cosplay. Then, quietly, “You can say it.”
Tom let out a short laugh. “Yeah, because I’m known for thinking before I speak.”
Mike didn’t respond. Just waited.
Tom looked at him again. And this time, he didn’t look away.
“Do you ever feel like… this shouldn’t work?” he said, softer now. “Like, we’re from different places, different lives, and somehow it just… does?”
Mike’s breath caught. “Yes,” he said, barely above a whisper.
Tom swallowed.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “Thought so.”
The air shifted. Not dramatically. Not all at once. But enough. Enough for Mike to notice how close they were standing. Enough for Tom to stop fidgeting. Enough for both of them to understand something had changed, and neither of them knew what to do with it.
Tom bumped his shoulder lightly against Mike’s.
“Guess we’ll figure it out, yeah?” he said, trying for casual and missing by just a little.
Mike let himself smile. “Ja,” he said. “We will.”
Neither of them said the word love. Not then. But it lingered there anyway. Unspoken, unfinished, quietly growing in the space between them.