“Your face is embarrassing,” Levi mocked in a high-pitched voice.
Silas laughed. “Bruh, you know we’re not fighting arealdragon, right?”
“Yeah, man, did a dragon wrong your bloodline? If you don’t calm down, you’re going to blow an artery,” Nico said.
Lake didn’t respond, hurling a potion at the dragon and watching as it finally—finally—fell to the ground. “Was that so hard?”
Levi caught Arsen’s boyfriend, Ever, walking into frame, plopping down between Arsen’s legs, a place he frequently sat when he wasn’t streaming himself. He squinted at the screen to see who was playing. “Who’s running the game?”
“Lake,” they chorused with no enthusiasm, the sound loud through the speakers.
Ever winced, quickly hiding it behind a smile because he was a literal angel of a human. “Oh, that’s…nice.”
Everyone burst out laughing except Lake, who blushed to the roots of his fashionably swoopy hero hair. “Whatever,” he mumbled. “I’m the reason we win battles.”
Seven snickered. “Calm down, GI Joe.”
The others bit back laughter. Lake was freakishly calm in real life, scarily so. Levi had once seen him take a pool stick to the back of his head without so much as raising his voice to his attacker, even with blood running down the back of his favorite shirt. Lake believed anything could be solved with logic and patience. He was even calm when he killed people.
But all that changed under the pressure of fictional responsibility. He became a whole different person.
A mean one.
Levi glanced at the time. Could he make his excuses and bail now without his friends giving him shit? He had wanted to bow out before they’d even started, but Nico had given him his sad, puppy eyes, saying how the guys missed him, like they hadn’t seen him two days ago for dinner at Jericho’s place. He’d even bribed him with a lollipop from his secret stash.
They’d been playing for three hours. Now that they’d defeated the ass-eating dragon, Levi wanted to get back to what hereallywanted to do: obsess over a stranger with soft lips who made the prettiest little squeaks when Levi kissed him, whimpering and whining.
“I think I’m gonna bail,” Levi said. “Homework.”
“Lies!” Nico cried, pointing an accusing finger at him through the camera. “You don’t even have class until tomorrow. You just want to hide in your room and jerk off thinking about the sad little felon you made out with this morning.”
Levi narrowed his eyes at Nico. “A. He isn’t a felon. B. We didn’t make out. C. You’re literally less than ten feet from me. We share an apartment. And, unfortunately, a wall.”
“Irrelevant,” Nico said, curls bouncing as he shook his head.
“I can’t believe you kissed some random stranger to stop a robbery,” Cree said.
“It’s impressive, really,” Seven added.
“That’s not the only reason he kissed him,” Felix said with a grin. “My brother said he’s in love with this adorable waifish little creature.”
“Aww,” Ever said, beaming at him. “I can’t wait to meet him. I bet he’s so cute.”
An angel. Ever was a literal angel. But, honestly, so was Arsen. Together, they were nauseatingly kind and would do anything for anyone without question, even strangers. Which wasn’t inherently weird until you remembered they both had a body count.
“Are we still playing or what?” Lake asked. “If you’re gonna go, go,” he added, looking at Levi.
Levi wasn’t sure why Lake even played the game. It just seemed to stress him out. The others all enjoyed it for what it was. Entertainment. Levi liked playing for the unpredictability. Arsen liked it because he wanted to be a hero. Cree liked itsDungeons & Dragonstype game play. Felix played to stay connected to his childhood friends. Even Silas, the newest addition to their guild, just wanted companionship.
“Dude, maybe we should have let that dragon eatyourass. You need to get laid. You’re so cranky,” Nico told Lake, shaking his head.
And then there was Nico. That little weirdo liked the game because you could treat it like a dating sim and he just wanted to fuck a dragon, or a banshee, or a dark fae without judgment.Nico liked to tease Levi for being a whore, but he was the one who couldn’t keep it in his pants. Levi would know.
A chime like church bells came through his computer, indicating someone had given him money. Fuck, he’d forgotten he was streaming. He flicked his gaze to the monitor that had the comments open on his screen. “Thanks, pink_plushie69.”
Levi was grateful to get the money. The little extra he made streaming helped keep him and Nico in ramen and mac and cheese. He tried to engage with his audience while he played, but it was harder during a group play. Luckily, most of his watchers were content to listen to the banter. On days where he couldn’t talk, he tended to be more playful with his characters, going more for fun than for wins. Even at the risk of Lake’s wrath.
Just today, Levi had seduced an orc, almost been betrothed to the head of a pack of shapeshifting druids, and negotiated away one of his eyes for a magic spell that allowed him to see the unseen. Hopefully, they were entertained enough to return to his stream again another day.
