Rhia’s phone lit up brightly, the glow of the screen mixing in with the glow from the monitor in front of her. The contact photo of Milly grinning widely while her pink hair flew around her in a frozen wind flashed and Rhia watched dispassionately as the phone continued to ring. She had it on Do Not Disturb but, even if she had allowed Milly’s ringtone to play, fineshrine by Purity Ring, she wouldn’t have heard it over the noise-canceling headphones she wore or the raucous sound of background music from the game she was playing.
Thirty-two missed calls, seventeen texts, twenty-seven instant messages, and twenty-one voicemails. No apologies in any of it.
Rhia’s tired eyes moved back to her monitor and she slumped a little further into the leather embrace of her gaming chair. With the extra lumbar support, it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but she had already been streaming for four hours so comfort was out of the question already.
“Okay, guys! I think I’m going to stop here for today!” She forced an excited note to her voice and watched her cute, purple-haired avatar copy the fake smile she wore. “We made a lot of progress on this map and, next time, hopefully we can collect the jars we need and put our baby back together! Until next time, Rhiaboos!”
The chat bar flooded with well-wishing and goodbyes, promises to watch the next stream she did, the usual trolling, and name-calling that was standard for live streaming. Sighing, Rhia shut down the stream and huffed out an exhausted breath as she leaned back in her chair and rolled her head to look back at her phone. A new notification popped up, something about her videos trending with the hashtag #Rhiaboo along with it. She didn’t pick the name, the fans picked the name.
Rhia cringed as she picked up her phone and clicked the notification while resolutely dismissing Milly’s messages. The app for the service she streamed on informed her that her latest video, a Let’s Play of a popular horror game, had gone viral. No sooner than she had read the first line of the email, her phone rang again, but this time it was from Avery Sykes, Rhia’s agent who mostly hadn’t led her astray. She dutifully picked up the phone, even though she mostly just wanted to crawl into her bed.
“Hey, Avery. What’s up?”
“Rhia!” Avery’s voice was as peppy and as annoyingly nasally as always, but she took it in stride. “You’re trending! On all the major social media platforms!”
“Yeah, I saw,” Rhia grumbled, her longtime habit of nail chewing kicking in as she thought back to the reason she was trending. “Not for any good reason, though.” She ripped a piece of nail off and balefully examined the torn, bleeding skin left behind.
“Rhia, people love celebrity beef, but people especially love fights between partners. I was a little nervous about what the LGBTQ community would think when that video of you and Milly fighting started circulating, but they seemed to love it.”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Ugh.
Avery continued on as if every word from his mouth wasn’t a painful reminder of the last three weeks. “You know, I had my doubts about you and Milly getting together.”
“Me, too,” Rhia said hollowly, wishing Avery would just shut up about Milly. He had a point, though. Millicent Brooks had been the epicenter of Rhia’s world for two years but, in terms of compatibility, they were eons apart. Milly was everything Rhia wasn’t. She was vivacious and fun, with a sparkling personality that drew attention wherever she went. They had met at a streaming conference three years ago and Rhia had been crushed by her presence upon first glance.
“Oh, my god! Are you Rhia from RhiaPlaysGames?!”
Rhia jumped, her shoulders hunching off of the wall she was standing against. Her fingers tightened around the flute of juice she held in her hand and she swallowed noisily as she peered down at a girl who practically glittered in the intimate lighting of the conference hall. This was an opportunity for creators to do the usual meet and greet, and she was only present because Avery had claimed it was good to meet other streamers.
“Y-yeah,” Rhia choked out, suddenly unsure of what she should be doing with her body. The girl stared up at her with bright purple contacts and her bubblegum hair curled lusciously over her bare shoulders. She was dressed in a poofy periwinkle blue dress with a fluffy, ruffled skirt that ended right at her fishnet-covered knees. Her shoes were shiny, white pumps with delicate heart-shaped buckles, and lacy socks covered her small, dainty feet.
“I can’t believe you’re actually here! I’ve wanted to meet you for forever but everyone said you don’t make appearances often.” Her glitter-glossed lips pursed cutely. “I guess you probably don’t know who I am.”
Rhia cleared her throat. She had no idea who the girl was was. She didn’t make appearances because, more often than not, her social anxiety crippled her and she was prone to panic attacks if she was in a heavily crowded area. It was why Rhia was a v-tuber, someone who streamed behind the face of an avatar. She got to interact with the world through another person and keep her anonymity safe all at the same time. Her fans had no idea what she looked like because she guarded her secrets closely. She didn’t need the world knowing about her pathetic, sordid past. How had this girl figured out who she was?
“I’m Milly Brooks.” Milly held out a dainty hand with pearlescent pink and blue nails. Shifting her drink to her other hand, Rhia took her hand and shook it while studiously ignoring how soft Milly’s hand was against hers. Milly smiled. “My channel is Millymoo Makeup. I do makeup, hair, and nail tutorials.”
Ah. It made sense why Rhia had never heard of her. When she went to pull her hand back, Milly squeezed it. “I think we’re going to be good friends, Rhia.”
They had exchanged numbers at the conference and, in two months, had fallen for one another. At least, Rhia thought they had.
“Well, hang in there, kiddo,” Avery said jovially. “At least you’re making money from your heartbreak. I gotta go. Catch you later!”
Before Rhia could respond, the line clicked and Avery was gone. He was always like that, a fast-talking hurricane of information and cheeriness. It took the pressure off having to add to the conversation so she didn’t mind, and actually sort of liked Avery. He could be annoying, but he was good at his job and didn’t try to take liberties with his pay. Which was more than Rhia could say for Milly.
