Work Text:
"You'll do well, Leon." You reassured him. His mic crackled to life when he let out a quiet sigh. "You'll be in chat, right?" He muttered. You flashed a small smile as if he could see you. "Always." Judging by the soft sound of his laughter sneaking into the call, you guessed that was enough to make him relax. "You're the best." He said before hanging up the call and unmuting himself on the stream.
Leon has been streaming for about a year now. At first, he would stream just for fun, to show his friends a new game he discovered, or just to show them a new restaurant he tried out. That was it until you appeared on the chat as his first official viewer, whom he didn't personally know. It all started as an innocent streamer-viewer relationship, but as time went by and he started to get more and more viewers and less idea of how Twitch worked, you offered yourself to help him. Until today, making you his most trusted moderator. Before important events, you would spend hours planning things together on Discord calls, you wouldn't miss a single stream, and if you had to, he would even reschedule the stream so you could be there. Chat said it was because he was in love with you, and you both said it was because Leon felt more confident if you were around.
Then, the ship's comments on the chat became more and more common. It all started on a just chatting stream. Leon somehow managed to screw up the tags of the stream after he tried to fix a scene. "Chat, where's Y/N?" He asked, clearly panicking. Some viewers started tagging you immediately, some others... noticed things neither of you seemed to notice. "Oh, there she is," He said, relieved when he saw you joining the stream 5 minutes later. "Come to Discord, I need your help," he shyly added, rubbing the back of his neck.
"DISCORD???"
"HE ALWAYS LOOKS FOR HER EVEN IF THERE ARE OTHER MODS."
"*PEEPOLOVE*".
"I don't know what I touched," Leon said nervously. You couldn't hide the chuckle escaping your lips as you tried to find the problem and fix it. "Is it working now?" Leon asked, his eyes finally landing on the chat again. "What would you do without me?" You joked. "Probably retire." He replied. The moment those words left Leon's mouth, the chat exploded. At first, it was only a couple of teasing messages buried beneath the rest.
"That's not very cowoker of you."
"Just confess already."
"So... when are you making it official?"
Leon frowned ever so slightly, leaning a little closer to his monitor as if reading the messages again would somehow make them different. A nervous laugh escaped him before he quickly shook his head. "You guys are unbelievable," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck again. "We're not dating." The denial should have been enough, but instead it only encouraged them.
"Not dating yet."
"Bro answered too fast."
"Then why do you always wait for Y/N before starting?"
"You literally rescheduled a stream last week because Y/N couldn't be here."
"He's never beating the allegations."
You stared at your monitor in complete silence after leaving the Discord call with Leon, your hands frozen above your keyboard. Every new message made the warmth crawling up your neck spread a little further across your face. You couldn't understand why it embarrassed you so much. It wasn't like the chat knew anything. They were only joking, just like they've been doing for the past few months. Right?
Leon let out another awkward laugh, one that sounded far less convincing than the last one. "I would've done that for any of my mods," he insisted. Almost immediately, someone clipped the sentence.
"Liar."
"Claire couldn't be here 2 weeks ago and you didn't rescheduled."
"You literally looked for Y/N the second she was five minutes late."
"Bro folded in under thirty seconds."
"Guys I looked for Y/N because we had technical issues," Leon tried to defend himself, but it didn't wash.
"I was here all along." Claire typed, followed by a clown sticker. His lips parted, ready to defend himself again, but nothing came out. Because none of them were entirely wrong.
Whenever something broke, you were the first person he looked for. Whenever he had an idea for the channel, you were the first person he told. Whenever he doubted himself before the stream, you were always the one waiting for him in Discord, reminding him that everything would be fine. None of it had felt strange. Not until hundreds of strangers pointed it out all at once.
You looked away from your screen for a second, pressing the back of your hand against your burning cheek before typing the only thing you could think of.
"I'm literally just his moderator." The message stayed pinned on the screen for barely two seconds before it was drowned beneath dozens of replies.
"Sure Y/N."
"We believe you 💀."
POLL: Is Leon in love with Y/N?
YES
YES
Poll created by ClaireRedfield98.
You buried your face in your hands with a groan, wishing the floor would simply open beneath your chair. A Discord message from Claire popped up on your screen. "You're welcome ;)". Across the screen, Leon's ears had turned the faintest shade of pink as he put his headphones back, trying to hide them and open the game he was going to play to avert everyone's attention.
Before you could even notice, the special stream you had been planning for weeks was around the corner. It was nothing extraordinary, a twelve-hour charity stream to celebrate Leon reaching one hundred thousand followers, but the amount of preparation behind it was enough to make anyone's head spin. New overlays, alerts, donation goals, giveaways, a dozen backup scenes in case OBS decided to betray him again halfway through stream...
By the time the checklist was finally complete, the Discord call had already stretched well past midnight. "...I think that's everything," Leon said after a brief silence, the rhythmic clicking of his mouse coming to a stop. You glanced over the document one last time. "I think so too." Neither of you hung up. The comfortable silence that settled between you wasn't awkward; it was the kind that came naturally after months of spending almost every evening together, each of you quietly working on your own thing while the other happened to be there.
Somewhere in the background, you heard Leon yawn. "Tired?" You muttered. "A little." He answered just as quietly. "You should sleep then," He hummed in response, yet he didn't try to leave the call. "So..." he spoke again. "Did you end up watching that movie?" A small smile tugged at your lips.
And just like that, the checklist was forgotten. One movie somehow turned into five, five turned into childhood cartoons neither of you had thought about in years, Leon admitted he'd cried watching Hachi, and immediately tried to defend himself before you could tease him for it. "You cried too," he pointed out when you laughed. "I never said I didn't." He chuckled quietly at your answer. The sound reached you through your headphones, soft enough that it almost blended with the rain tapping against your bedroom window.
You talked about pets next. About how Leon had always wanted a golden retriever, but his apartment wasn't exactly dog-friendly, about the stray orange cat that occasionally wandered into your garden as if it owned the place.
Then came the childhood stories. The embarrassing ones. The ones you usually forget until someone accidentally unlocks the memory. Leon confessed he'd once gotten lost in a supermarket because he had followed someone else's jacket, convinced it was his dad. You laughed so hard your stomach hurt. He laughed as well, because hearing your laugh somehow made it funnier.
Hours slipped away unnoticed. By the time either of you glanced at the clock again, it was almost four in the morning. "We should probably sleep," you murmured, reluctant despite yourself. "Probably." Once again, neither of you moved. Leon broke the silence first. "What do you want to do... eventually?" You blinked, confused. "What do you mean?” "I don't know." His voice carried that familiar hesitation, as though he was afraid of asking something too personal. "Like... years from now." You leaned back in your chair, thinking. "I think I'd like somewhere quiet." He hummed. "A little house, a dog, or a cat." "A golden retriever and an orange cat?" You could practically hear the smile in his voice. "...Definitely." You chuckled. A small pause settled in the call. "What about you?" You asked. He took a moment to answer. "I don't really care where I end up." His words came out almost absentmindedly. "As long as I have someone to share my life with." Something in your chest tightened.
Neither of you acknowledged the silence that followed. It felt fragile, like speaking too loudly would somehow break it. Eventually, Leon cleared his throat. "I should let you sleep." He said quietly. "You should." You chuckled. "...Goodnight." "Goodnight, Leon." The call ended with the familiar Discord sound echoing through your room. For a long moment, you simply stared at your dark monitor. The stream had only taken an hour to prepare; the remaining three had been spent talking about everything and absolutely nothing. Your eyes drifted towards the clock before a quiet thought crossed your mind. It had felt suspiciously close to a date. You immediately shook your head. It couldn't have been; Leon was just comfortable around you. That was all.
On the other side of the city, Leon was lying in bed with one arm thrown over his eyes. He had spent the last ten minutes replaying the conversation in his head instead of sleeping. He couldn't remember the last time talking to someone had felt that effortless. The corner of his mouth lifted into a tired smile. It had felt suspiciously close to a date. His face warmed almost instantly. "...Get a grip," he muttered to himself before reaching over to switch off the bedside lamp.
The charity stream couldn't have gone better. Twelve hours somehow turned into thirteen after Leon insisted on finishing "just one more build" before ending the stream. The donation goal had been surpassed hours ago, chat had somehow convinced him to wear a ridiculous paper crown, and by the time he thanked everyone for staying until the end, his voice had grown noticeably hoarse. You were already typing out a final message in chat when a notification appeared.
Ada raided with 18.642 viewers.
For a second, nobody said anything. "...What?" Leon's eyes darted between the notification and the rapidly increasing viewer count. "What's going on?" You couldn't help laughing through your headset. "Leon." "I know!" You chuckled. "No, I don't think you do." His hands hovered awkwardly over his keyboard as though he had forgotten how to use it. "I... Uh..." He let out an embarrassed laugh before clearing his throat. "Hi." Chat immediately exploded. You watched the viewer count nearly double within minutes.
Ada stayed only long enough to wish him luck before disappearing again, but the damage had already been done. By the time Leon finally ended the stream, thousands of new followers had joined his community. He sat there staring at the dashboard for a full minute. "...There's no way." "There is," you replied, smiling to yourself. "...I think I'm going to throw up." You rolled your eyes. "You'll survive." He stayed quiet for a moment. "I don't know..." "You literally just did." He let out a familiar laugh, the one that always appeared whenever something good happened to him.
About half an hour later, your phone buzzed."Discord now." No greeting, no explanation. You couldn't help smiling as you clicked on his profile. He picked up before the first ring had even finished. "You'll never guess." He said excitedly. "Ada offered you a collab?" The call fell silent for a second. "How did you know???" He complained. "Magic." You joked, your laugh sneaking into the mic. He sounded disappointed that his surprise barely lasted ten seconds. Then the excitement won again. "She has this Minecraft Hardcore series with a bunch of creators." His words came out faster than usual. "She asked if I'd like to join for the next season." You couldn't stop smiling. "Leon." "What?" He answered immediately. "You have to say yes." You encouraged him. "You really think so?" "I know so." You corrected with a chuckle. "What if people only watch because it's Ada?" He hesitated. "Then they'll stay because it's you." Silence settled between you, long enough for Leon to quietly mumble a simple 'thanks'.
You leaned back in your chair. "You've worked for this for over a year." Leon hummed as he nodded thoughtfully. "I'm proud of you." Another pause, this one even longer. When he finally spoke again, his voice was softer. "...I'm glad you were here." For reasons you couldn't quite explain, your heart skipped once. "So am I."
The Hardcore series premiered the following Saturday. You had spent an hour before the stream helping Leon double-check every setting, even though he'd already checked them twice himself. "You've forgotten something." His voice immediately tensed. "What is it?" You burst into loud laughter. "I'm kidding." A groan echoed through your headset. "You're evil." He complained. "I learned from chat." You smiled to yourself. "Nervous?" You asked after a small silence. "...A little." He quietly admitted. "You'll do great." You reassured him, just like you always did. "...You'll be there, right?" The question was so familiar that neither of you seemed to think twice about it. "Always."
The server was already full by the time Leon joined. Several creators greeted him as their voice chat filled with overlapping instructions and laughter. Then Ada spoke. "So you're the rookie." Leon blinked. "...Rookie?" Leon asked nervously. "You've never played Hardcore with us," Ada said. "I guess not." The blond boy let out a quiet laugh. "Try not to die in the first ten minutes." A few creators laughed. "So... no pressure?" Leon joked. "None at all." You couldn't help smiling at your screen.
Leon sounded nervous, but little by little the conversation began flowing naturally. He accidentally punched another player instead of a tree, someone fell into a ravine, Ada silently handed Leon an iron pickaxe after he admitted he'd forgotten to craft one. "You came unprepared." Ada joked. "I was distracted." Leon defended immediately. "So I noticed." Every exchange was accompanied by laughter from the rest of the group. The atmosphere felt effortlessly comfortable. You found yourself relaxing alongside him. Then your eyes drifted towards the chat.
"THEY'RE CUTE."
"Ada bullying Leon is my new favorite thing."
"I ship it."
"#Aeon *peepolove*"
"The chemistry????"
You frowned. It was only a few messages, then dozens. Edits were already being mentioned before the stream had even ended.
"Aeon nation."
"Sorry, mod."
Your fingers hesitated above the keyboard. You deleted the timeout command before pressing Enter. There was no reason to moderate them; they weren't breaking any rules, they were only joking, just like they always had. Yet, for reasons you couldn't understand, every message left an uncomfortable knot somewhere beneath your ribs. You watched Leon laugh at something Ada had said. She nudged his character into the river, and he accidentally grabbed her in with him; the entire call dissolved into laughter. It looked... Natural. Maybe even better than you expected.
Your chest tightened. Of course, people would ship them. Ada was confident, quick-witted, and popular. Leon seemed far more relaxed around her than he'd been at the beginning of the stream. Your thoughts stopped abruptly. No, that wasn't fair. You closed the chat for a moment, rubbing your eyes. What exactly were you jealous of? Leon wasn't your boyfriend; he wasn't even flirting. He was simply making friends. You had no right to feel this way. So, why did it hurt?
Nearly four hours later, the stream finally came to an end. One by one, everyone disconnected from the voice call until only Leon and Ada remained. Neither of them spoke for a moment. Then Ada broke the silence. "So." Leon looked back at his monitor. "Huh?" He muttered. "You're not dating?" His eyebrows drew together. "...Who?" He hesitated to ask. "Your moderator." The question caught him so off guard that he nearly knocked over the glass sitting beside his keyboard. "What?" "Y/N, isn't it?" He stared at the Discord window as though it might suddenly explain what was happening. "No." Ada hummed thoughtfully. "I would've bet money on it." Leon's ears warmed. "We're just..." He hesitated again. "...Friends." "Right." The single word carried just enough amusement to make him feel suspicious. "You don't believe me?" He asked. "I believe that's what you tell yourself." Leon frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" Ada let out a quiet laugh. "It means you've spent the entire evening asking whether she'd like this joke, whether she'd laugh at that story, whether she'd think your house looked ugly." Leon opened his mouth just to close it again. "You also looked for her in chat every five minutes." Ada pointed out. "Did I?" "You did." Silence settled between them.
Ada leaned back in her chair. "Talk to her." His eyes widened. "What?" He said immediately. "If she says no, you'll survive." Ada laughed. "...And if she doesn't?" A faint smile slipped into Ada's voice. "Then you'll wonder why you waited so long." She said before hanging up. Leon didn't move. Because for the first time in months, he wasn't wondering whether the chat had been reading too much into things. He was wondering if maybe, just maybe, they had noticed something long before he had.
Days went by, and you barely talked to him. At first, Leon convinced himself he was imagining it. People got busy; you had your own life outside of Twitch. It wasn't unusual for you to answer a message an hour later or skip a Discord call because you were tired. Those kinds of things happened; it was normal. Except... it kept happening.
The good morning messages became shorter, the conversations that usually drifted beyond stream schedules ended as soon as the planning was done. Whenever he suggested staying in the call a little longer, you suddenly had something else to do. Even during streams, you barely typed anymore. You still moderated the chat, greeted newcomers, and banned bots before anyone else noticed them. But the little comments that used to make him laugh had almost disappeared. Somehow, your presence had started feeling distant. He noticed it because he missed it, more than he wanted to admit.
"You've been staring at Discord for five minutes." Claire's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Leon blinked. "I hav-." "You have." She didn't even sound doubtful. Claire knew you and Leon almost like the palm of her hand. She's been moderating Leon for as long as you have, but unlike you, she wasn't subtle. If something bothered her, everyone knew. She leaned back in her chair before looking at him through the call. "You've been weird all week." Leon sighed. "It's Y/N." He muttered. "I figured." Claire crossed her arms. "I think I did something." Claire raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?" She asked with curiosity. "She's..." He searched for the right word. "Different." Claire remained quiet. "She answers less, always has an excuse to leave..." Your friend hummed. "And I don't know why." Leon looked down, like a sad puppy who had just been scolded. "I've been trying to think if I said something stupid." He added. Claire couldn't help smiling to herself. "You really have no idea." Leon looked up with a frown. "...Should I?" She considered for a moment letting him figure it out alone. But she knew he would take forever.
"Leon, stop trying to solve this like it's a puzzle," Claire said finally. "What do you mean?" The girl let out a tired sigh. "Call her." Leon blinked. "Just... call her?" He repeated, as if he needed to do so to understand it. Claire simply nodded. "What if she doesn't want to talk to me?" Claire let out a laugh. "Then she'll tell you." Leon nodded thoughtfully. "But I seriously doubt that's the problem." She reassured the blond boy. "Oh, and Leon," he hummed in response. "Ask her what's wrong, not what you think is wrong. Ask her what is actually wrong," She added before hanging up.
Your phone buzzed barely fifteen minutes later. Leon is calling... You stared at the screen. For a brief moment, you considered pretending you hadn't seen it. Instead, you answered. "Hey." His voice sounded quieter than usual. There was no background music, no keyboard clicking, no stream... Everything felt so empty. For a few seconds, neither of you spoke. Then Leon inhaled softly. "...Did I do something?" The question caught you completely off guard. "What?" You asked immediately. "Did I upset you?" He asked again. "No." The crease between your eyebrows deepened. "You've been avoiding me." There wasn't a hint of accusation in his voice, only concern. "I just..." you started before hesitating. Leon waited patiently. "I thought maybe I'd said something." He said when he noticed how quiet you were. "You didn't." You said once again. "Then what happened?" You closed your eyes. You hadn't planned on having this conversation, especially not with him. "It doesn't matter." You shrugged off. "It matters if it's making you unhappy." His words came so naturally that your chest tightened.
Silence settled between you, long enough for Leon to quietly add, "I miss talking to you." Your heart sank, followed by a small, defeated laugh that didn't sound like you at all. "It's stupid." You sounded embarrassed. "I'll decide that." Another silence settled before you before you exhaled. "...I got jealous," you whispered, finally admitting what you've been avoiding since the Hardcore series stream. Leon frowned. "Jealous?" The word sounded almost foreign in his tongue. You immediately regretted saying it. "No, forget it." You tried to downplay it. "Jealous of what?" You covered your face with one hand. "This is exactly why I didn't want to say anything." You quietly admitted. "I don't understand." You let out a slow breath. "...Ada." You let a beat of silence before hurrying to continue before he could say something. "I know how ridiculous this sounds. You were just streaming and making friends." You continued. "And she's nice. She didn't do anything wrong." You clarified before he could misunderstand your words. "I just..." Your voice grew quieter with every sentence. "I had no right to feel jealous." You swallowed.
"I mean..." you forced a weak laugh after an endless silence. "I'm not your girlfriend." Leon didn't answer. All at once, every conversation from the past year came crashing back. "You'll be in chat, right?" "Always." The nights spent talking until sunrise, looking for you the second every stream started, rescheduling broadcasts because you couldn't make it, wondering whether you'd laugh before telling a joke, checking if you'd see every message, missing you after only a few quiet days. His grip tightened around his phone. It wasn't Ada, it wasn't even the chat. The only thing he couldn't understand was how it had taken him this long to realise why losing your attention had felt so terrifying. "...Y/N." His voice came out almost breathless. "I think..." He stopped. You laughed to yourself for a second. Leon Kennedy would never know how to finish a sentence.
The silence that stretched through the line was frightening, like both of you knew that whatever came next would change something neither of you could ever take back. Leon let out a slow breath. "I think I would've been jealous too." You frowned. "What?" "If..." He rubbed a hand over his face, already embarrassed by his own words. "If you had been streaming with someone else." Your heartbeat quickened. "I would've hated reading the chat shipping you with him." He laughed nervously. "I probably would've tried to convince myself it didn't bother me... But it would've." Your grip around your phone tightened. "Leon..." You muttered under your breath. "I don't think it was Ada." Your voice was barely above a whisper. "I think I was just scared." You finally admitted. "Scared about what?" Leon asked with confusion, covering his voice. "Losing you." The words came out before he had the chance to overthink them.
Neither of you dared to say anything else for the next few seconds. Somewhere outside your bedroom window, the rain had started again. Soft enough that it almost disappeared beneath the sound of your own heartbeat. Leon cleared his throat. "You know..." He immediately regretted trying to continue. "What?" You asked when you noticed his hesitation. "It's stupid." He chuckled. "I'll decide that." You said, a smile tugging at your lips. "...You're starting to sound like me." He huffed a laugh. "I wonder why." You giggled. This time, the laugh escaping his throat sounded warmer. The tension eased just enough for him to find the courage he'd been looking for. "...Would it be weird..." He stopped for a second, deciding whether it was a good idea or not to say what he was thinking. "...if I asked my moderator out on a date?" Your eyes widened immediately.
For a second, you genuinely forgot how to breathe. Leon, on the other side of the call, was already questioning every life decision that had led him to that sentence. "I mean... You don't have to answer... I just thought... You know... It sounded way better in my head." Another awkward laugh escaped him. "I'm making this worse, aren't I?" You bit the inside of your cheek to suppress a smile. "...A little." You murmured. "I knew it." Leon chuckled. "But..." You looked down at the floor, feeling the warmth creeping back onto your cheeks. "Yeah?" He blinked. "It would probably be a little weird... Yeah." His shoulders sank. "Oh." A tiny laugh slipped past your lips. "But..." Hope returned so quickly it almost made him dizzy. "If you did..." You smiled to yourself, grateful he couldn't see how red your face had become. "...I'd say yes."
The line went completely silent for a solid minute. "Really?" Leon asked so quietly that it almost broke your heart. "Really." Another few seconds passed, and Leon broke the silence, quietly laughing to himself. "I spent months thinking you couldn't possibly like me." He confessed. "Same." You chuckled as he groaned. "We're idiots." He admitted. "A little." You continued to laugh. "A lot." Leon corrected, laughing with you. Neither of you realised how much you'd both missed hearing that sound together.
Eventually, Leon spoke again. "So..." He paused. "Friday?" You fell into the temptation of teasing him a little. "What about Friday?" You asked innocently. "Our..." He hesitated. "...Date?" It felt so weird hearing him say that word meant only for you. A smile spread widely across your face. "I'd love that." Somewhere on the other end of the call, Leon smiled widely, too. You couldn't see it, he couldn't see yours, but somehow, neither of you needed a camera to know the other one was smiling.
Friday's date somehow turned into another, then another, then late-night walks after streams, coffee before planning meetings, messages that no longer needed an excuse to be sent. Somewhere along the way, the line between streamer and moderator quietly disappeared. Neither of you ever made an announcement. Your relationship had never been built in front of an audience. It had grown in Discord calls that lasted until four in the morning, in quiet moments between stream schedules, in countless 'good luck' messages sent moments before Leon went live. So when his next stream started, nothing looked different. The same overlay, the same music, the same nervous smile as he greeted the chat.
"Good evening, everyone." Thousands of familiar usernames rushed across the screen. You quietly settled into your usual routine. Greeting new viewers, removing spam, answering questions, just another stream. The only difference was the four walls that surrounded you. About twenty minutes in, you heard Leon's voice from the room next door. He frowned at something on his second monitor. "Has my favorite mod posted tonight's schedule yet?" He said without thinking. The chat went completely silent for a moment. "Did the stream lag?" He asked innocently when he noticed nobody was typing.
The messages arrived all at once.
"Favorite?"
"EXCUSE ME????"
"SINCE WHEN IS SHE YOUR FAVORITE????"
"HE SAID FAVORITE"
"CLIP THAT."
"WE WON."
You covered your mouth with one hand. There was absolutely no way he had just said that. Leon read a few more messages before the realization slowly reached him. "...Oh." The tips of his ears turned pink under his headphones. "I didn't mean..." He stopped. Because what he was about to say wasn't true anymore. He had meant it. He just hadn't meant to say it out loud. A sheepish smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "I mean..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "...She is." The chat moved so quickly that it became impossible to read.
"HE DID NOT JUST DOUBLE DOWN."
"I USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THIS."
"THE MOD WON."
"SOMEONE CHECK ON ADA."
You bit your lip, trying and failing miserably not to smile. Without looking away from your monitor, you typed the only response you could think of.
"Focus on your game, rookie."
You smiled towards the closed door that separated Leon's setup from where you were. Leon looked back at the chat. Then, at your message with a soft smile. "Yes, ma'am." The teasing only grew worse after that. Every time Leon thanked you for fixing something, every time you reminded him to drink water, every time he glanced at chat looking for your messages before anyone else's. The audience had always noticed. Now they finally had solid proof. Neither of you denied anything, you didn't confirm it either. You simply carried on exactly as you always had. Only now, Leon smiled a little more often.
The stream ended nearly four hours later. Leon leaned back in his chair with a tired sigh, thanking everyone one last time before raiding Ada and ending the broadcast. The familiar Twitch dashboard replaced the stream. Silence settled over the room. "...Well." "Well," you echoed from the doorway. Leon looked up so quickly he almost spun his chair around. "There you are." You smiled, your laptop tucked under one arm after spending the entire stream moderating from the guest room. "I've been here the whole time." You said. "I know." His smile came so easily now. "So..." You walked over. "...Favorite moderator?" He buried his face in one hand. "I panicked." He hid his smile behind his hand. "You doubled down." You narrowed your eyes at him. "Yeah." He chuckled. "You made it worse." A laugh escaped both of you at the same time. Leon stood from his chair, crossing the room until he stopped in front of you. "I guess they're going to figure it out eventually." You shrugged. "Maybe."
He smiled before leaning down just enough to press a soft, lingering kiss to your lips. "So much for keeping it a secret." He whispered, his hand resting on your cheek. "I think we laster..." you looked down at the watch on your wrist. "About twenty minutes." You looked up at him once again. "New record." He was about to lean in to kiss you again when your phone vibrated. Then his. You frowned.
You unlocked your screen. Claire. A screenshot filled almost the entire display. It was the chat. Hundreds upon hundreds of messages were flying by after Leon had called you his favorite moderator.
"HE'S NEVER CALLED HER THAT BEFORE."
"THAT'S HIS GIRLFRIEND."
"WE WON."
"I WAITED A YEAR FOR THIS."
At the very bottom, Claire had circled Leon's flustered expression in bright red. Underneath the screenshot, there was only one message. "ABOUT DAMN TIME." You couldn't stop yourself from laughing. Across the room, Leon let out an equally defeated groan. "...She sent you one too?" You turned your phone around. "She did." Leon held up his own screen. The exact same screenshot, the exact same message. For a second, you simply looked at each other and burst into laughter. A laugh that came so easily whenever you were together. When the laughter finally died down, Leon reached for your hand without thinking. His fingers intertwined with yours as naturally as though they'd always belonged there.
His free hand cupped your cheek again, connecting your lips in a messy kiss after his nose bumped into yours and you burst into laughter. In the middle of the kiss, Leon's phone screen lit up with a new notification. A message from Ada read 'Congratulations, rookie.' was completely ignored as Leon continued to kiss you.
Somehow, it felt like the perfect ending to a story that had started with nothing more than a Twitch chat and one moderator who had always been there.
Always in chat.