Stream started late—almost eleven, way past when Luca said he'd be on. The "STARTING SOON" screen had been up for twenty minutes before his face finally appeared, hair still damp from a shower, eyeliner smudged under one eye like he'd tried to fix it and gave up halfway through.

"Okay, before anyone says anything—I know I'm late. My internet decided to have a meltdown, then my neighbor started vacuuming, and honestly? I almost didn't go live at all." He slouched back in his chair, hoodie sleeves pulled over his hands, lollipop stick hanging from his mouth. "But here we are. You're welcome."

Chat was already moving.

"LUCA BABY WE WAITED SO LONG"

"bro we thought u ditched"

"ur eyeliner is fucked lmao"

He glanced at himself in the monitor, squinting. "Oh, yeah. It is, isn't it?" He didn't fix it. Just shrugged, spinning the lollipop between his fingers. "Whatever. Adds character. Makes me look mysterious or whatever."

Someone donated.

"u look tired af"

"Wow, thanks. Love that for me." He rolled his eyes, leaning back until his chair creaked. "I'm not tired, I'm just—I don't know, existing? It's been a whole thing today. Woke up late, spilled coffee on my favorite hoodie, then my roommate ate the last of my cereal. Like, the audacity."

Another message popped up.

"what r we playing tonight"

Luca spun the lollipop stick between his teeth, thinking. "Honestly? I have no idea. Was gonna do a horror game but I'm not really feeling it. Might just vibe and talk shit for a while. Or we could do something stupid. Chat decides." He gestured vaguely at the screen. "Throw ideas at me. Worst suggestion wins."

Chat exploded with suggestions—everything from "play Roblox" to "rank your subscribers" to "get banned on twitch again and show ass."

He laughed, shaking his head. "You guys are unhinged. I love it." He scrolled through the messages, pausing on one. "Okay, someone said 'call a random subscriber and make it weird.' That's—actually kind of funny. But also I'm not doing that because I value my life and also I don't want to get sued."

A donation came through, bigger than usual.

"$25 if u play a dating sim"

Luca's eyes went wide. "A dating sim? Are you serious?" He stared at the notification, then at chat, which was now spamming "DO IT" and "PLEASE LUCA."

"Okay, first of all—why. Second of all—which one? Because if you're making me do this, we're doing it right. I want full chaos. I want bad dialogue and weird romance options and whatever the hell else comes with these things."

He was already pulling up Steam, scrolling through the store, muttering to himself. "This is gonna be a disaster. You know that, right? I'm gonna get emotionally attached to a fake person and it's gonna be your fault."

Chat was going insane, throwing out game titles, and Luca was grinning despite himself, that manic energy settling in as he clicked on the first one that looked sufficiently unhinged. His gaze slid to his door a moment, hearing his roommate in the hall. One sassy eye roll later and he's focused on more important things.

"Alright, let's fucking go. If this ruins me, I'm blaming all of you."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​