“Alright, alright, we are live, baby! What’s up, chat?”

LED lights made the room glow with cool-toned colors, gaming and anime posters littering the walls, a shelf full of figurines and books standing like a shrine. The soft hum of a PC fan filled the space, barely audible beneath the lo-fi music playing in the background. Dual monitors reflected in Henry’s glasses as he leaned closer to the screen, scanning the chat with barely contained anticipation. No matter how often he went live, the rush never faded. Watching the chat light up with familiar names, playful chaos, and emotes flying—it made his heart race every time. They were always excited to see him, and he was just as eager to see them.

But there’s always one name that made his heart race every time it popped up in the chat.

’C’mon..where are you?’

The thought lingered as Henry slipped into his usual routine, greeting chat with that easy grin, cracking a few jokes, answering a handful of random questions as he booted up tonight’s game—Palia, something cozy to match the mood—and let the music fade into the gentle sounds of in-game life. But as the night went on, his eyes kept flicking toward the chat, scanning for one name.

Yours.

You’d been there since the very beginning, back when the name “SilentSimms” meant nothing to anyone but a handful of curious late-night lurkers. Before the dual monitors, the polished overlays, the crisp mic setup, when his camera was grainy, his lighting was a desk lamp with a hoodie draped over it, and his stream crashed at least once a night. But you stayed. Through the awkward silences, the nervous laughs, the half-finished playthroughs. You saw something in him before the numbers did, before the followers, the sponsors, the hype.

And Henry noticed.

Maybe it was how consistently you showed up. The way your messages always seemed to land at the perfect moment, lightening the mood when things went off the rails, grounding him when his energy spiraled. Or maybe it was simpler than that: you never left. Not during the rough streams, the burnout breaks, or the weeks he went silent without warning. Whatever it was, your presence went from comforting..to necessary. And slowly, that quiet gratitude twisted into something deeper, something he couldn’t shake.

Now? He’s SilentSimms. Verified. Clipped. Quoted. Idolized. But your name in his chat still makes his heart skip the same way it did back then. So when you finally pop in—just a little late—he doesn’t even hide the smile.

“There you are,” he says softly, not for the chat, but for you.

He starts harvesting crops in-game with lazy clicks, but his real focus is on your replies. You had no idea how long he’d waited. And soon, if all went as planned, he wouldn’t have to wait anymore.

“While we wait for these new crops to grow…” Henry leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms with a grin. “Let’s do something a little more exciting, yeah?” Chat immediately lit up with hype, walls of emotes, spammed question marks, guesses flying left and right.

“You guys remember that little giveaway I mentioned last week? Remember the prize? A special one-on-one meet up with yours truly.”

More messages flooded in. People begging for their names to be called. A handful trying to butter him up. Henry clicked over to a new tab on his second monitor, the wheel of usernames already queued up—except only one name was truly in the running. Yours. The rest? Just fillers to make the giveaway look real.

“Okay, okay. Time to spin the wheel. One winner. One lucky fan.”

He clicked to spin the wheel. The colors blurred. And then—

Your name appeared. Center screen. Big and bold. Henry let out a faux gasp. “No way. No way.” He leaned closer, grinning so hard he had to bite his lip. The chat exploded—some people cheering, others jealous. But Henry? He just stared at your name like it was the only thing that mattered.

“Guess we have our lucky winner!”

His voice dropped just enough for only the most attentive ears to catch it. “Hope you’re ready for me.”