“I hear we might have a special visitor watching today.” I moved my focus to the chat, seeing that many were trying to get my attention, and that Odette had entered. I filtered the responses and saw it. Her username was just her name, so it was obvious. She’d only posted a hello and that she was here as a first-time watcher.
She commented again.
OdetteReign:Not so special.
“I beg to differ.” I straightened myself in my chair. Right now, I was behind a mask again, someone Odette didn’t actually know. My confidence as CovertRetriever was just as great as it had been at the masquerade ball. “The most important woman in gaming has graced my stream. I think that’s pretty special.”
OdetteReign:I’m just here for some good background noise while I write.
“For the new game or a new book?” I knew asking the question would give more away than most would know. While Odette hadn’t changed her name with her games and writing, she didn’t cross-promote them together.
OdetteReign:Book…
“And when can we expect this new bestseller?”
OdetteReign:Need a little romantic inspiration to get it finished.
Shit.
She’d mentioned needing inspiration when we first met, and I told her then that I wanted to be her inspiration, but clearly, I wasn’t doing a great job at it since she needed more. I felt the need to grab my phone to message Odette as Ryker, but I couldn’t do that. Not with all eyes on me on a livestream.
“I’ll be all the inspiration you’ll ever need.” Leaning my mouth on to the microphone, I said the exact words I had to her while we stood side by side on the balcony under the stars, but I needed to add a little CovertRetriever flare. “I’ll always look for you, my queen.”
I looked into the camera next and gave a little wink, grinning under my mask. It was a fabric mask that covered the majority of my face, only showing from my eyes up. I refocused on the game. wondering exactly where that had come from, but knew Odette was probably squirming at home.
At some point and time during the interaction, I’d died and spawned back at my last save point. I lost around ten minutes of play, but it wasn’t terrible. Playing through for the next two hours, I finally completed the main story and got through half the side quests I still had left. I only had an hour left on my timer, which I’d finish tomorrow, but I was done for the day.
“I’ll see you all tomorrow at the same time to finish this run.” I leaned back on my chair, ready to sign off. “Until next time.”
I clicked a few buttons, ended the stream, and immediately started rendering for upload.
A private message notification popped up. It was from Odette.
I opened it immediately.
OdetteReign: Thank you for the much-needed inspiration.
I pulled my mask down, no longer hiding the growing grin on my face. She loved it. I was inspiring her writing.
Well. CovertRetriever was.
I reached for my phone, shooting off a text to her. It’d been hours since I last messaged her, and I knew exactly why she hadn’t messaged me back. She was more enamored with my alter ego and her writing, which I didn’t blame her for.
But I needed Ryker to get in the game.
Ryker: I hope your evening has been good.
Fucking lame.
My phone buzzed.
Odette: Quite productive. I hope yours has been good, too.
I smiled at my phone, knowing that I was the reason for her productivity.
Ryker: Quite productive as well.
I set my phone down, finishing what I needed to do this evening for the stream I’d just finished. We left the conversation as is, but I needed to do better. I wanted to get to know Odette, learn about her, and not just what I already knew from over the years. I wanted her to know me. Even if it was just through the phone, I needed this. I wasn’t going to let the magic of the ball and the award show slip right through my fingers.
