Chain Reaction 3.1.24: The Livestream

     "Well, this is it. This is where the magic happens." I'd managed to get Ivy to my house--for the excuse of showing her my studio. The collab is back on. In fact, we're doing it Friday.
     "It looks different. Were all these posters here before?"
     "Nah. I've been sprucing up the place, thinking the plain blue wall for a background wasn't great."
     She passes me to look more closely at something.

     "I like these." She looks at some small prints of old Route 68 stuff. "I wish they were bigger."
     "I thought that by getting the smaller ones that I could have more of them in a limited space. And I was going for variety."
     She looks around. "Let's do the collab here." Her pretty face turns to me. "Is that okay? Do you think you could set up a livestream down here?"
     "Livestream? I've never done one." Sure we can do the collab here. I want Ivy at my house as much as possible. She says she has a roommate, and privacy is always better.
     She looks at my equipment. "You've got everything you need. Top of the line. You shouldn't have a problem."
      I walk over to her. "There is one more piece of decoration that I meant to put up, but I really didn't see the purpose for it." Pause. "Until now."

     I pull out some mistletoe where I'd stashed it in my inventory.
     She looks at it dubiously. "Mike, is there any limit to your cheesiness?"

     I playfully encourage her. "Come on... It's tradition."
     "You know they're poisonous, right?"
     "I'm not asking you to eat it." Pause. "It's the solemn duty of every pretty girl to kiss the person holding mistletoe over her head."
     She sighs. "Fine." Then she goes forward for what looks like she's intending to be a quick peck.

     But I surprise her with more.
     Holy plum. Ivy is in my house. I know we only just got started again, but I want her.
     My kiss gets even more serious. But she pulls away.
     "So... Friday night? I'll make an announcement."
     I sigh. Patience, Mike. "Yeah. I'll be here. Come by early, and I'll make you something to eat."
     "I'm there. Well, here." She smiles; I walk her upstairs; and we kiss each other goodbye-for-now.

     Friday arrives, and we're wearing the same clothes because the Maker wasn't sure how she was going to plan this out. :/

     "Wow, Mike. I didn't expect you to actually, cook. Normally, I just heat up a frozen pizza or order takeout." She looks honestly impressed.
     "I, uh, used to be like that, but I was starting to have very poor health." And I took a potion. "If I don't watch it, I gain weight faster than a wrestler who's already been weighed."
     "Um, okay." She gives me a strange look. "I guess I just can't imagine you any other way."
     "I do my best." I smile, and we continue to eat.

     Before I know it, it's time for our livestream. Ivy logs in on my computer and starts it up. It doesn't take long for the chat to get going. I ignore all the 'gay' comments because people, in general, are assholes, and the worst thing to do is acknowledge them.

     "Okay, guys. Mike is here to answer your questions. Any question. Well, within reason. I guess I should say that."
     I laugh nervously and read the chat as fast as I can. "Yes, I'm the victim... I'm a SimTuber named Mike from 'Ask Mike.'"

     "Uh... Ivy, you're not going to make me eat bugs, are you?" I chuckle. "Thanks, Shadow. Ivy likes them too."

     I read RoadRunner's post and look at Ivy questioningly.
     "It has to be phrased in a question, guys."
     I smirk and read more chat. "Uh, my ex-boyfriend? No idea. Don't care. And no, I don't eat glue."

    I'm really glad TallyWhacker didn't phrase the thing in a question.
    "I'm all out of slugs today. We're at Mike's place, not mine."

      "There. Thank you, BabyCakes."
      "Guys, those weren't the kind of questions we had in mind."
      "Well, now it's been asked twice. DerringDoo, I'd love to. But can we convince Ivy?" I grin.
      "What's your question, Dollie?"

     She reads Dollie's question. "Sixty-nine is the number that comes before seventy. That's all I'm going to say about that."
     I chuckle. "Aw, c'mon, Ivy. Maybe they really wanna know."
     "This isn't sex ed class." She reads Mockingjay. "Um... sort of."
     I read LimpNoodle's. "Three times now, Ivy." I pull her to me.

     I have no idea what chat is saying right now.

      I grin as I pull back. Ivy stares at me for a second before jumping and scrolling up to read chat.
     "Uuummm... Yes, we're dating," she answers.
     I laugh at HotMama. "We just started dating." Again. "So it's a bit soon to ask that." I read down some, and my stomach clenches. "Well, I guess I hate you too, SuperCop." Pretty good idea who that is. Stalker.
     Ivy's teeth clench. "That wasn't a question, Mike." She gives me a 'don't feed the troll' look. "No, DisasterTown, this doesn't drive me up the wall."
    Chat explodes with the knowledge that we're dating, and the conversation quickly turns dirty, well, dirty-er. We insist this isn't a porn-cast, so we just have to disappoint all those requests. Even though I want to do it all to Ivy.

     Our hour starts coming to a close, and Ivy thanks everyone for coming. Reading chat, I see that hashtag MikeAndIvy looks to be forming a trend. That makes me happy.
     "Goodnight, everyone!" she calls out and switches off the livestream. Then she lets out a sigh of relief. "That got wild."
     I pull her to me. "Not quite as wild as it's about to get."

-------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Many, many, many thanks to my almost-18-year-old daughter who helped me make chat look as real as I wanted it to!

*Any similarities to actual online personas are unintentional and completely coincidental.*

I had too much fun coming up with the names. My favorite was 133t07734. I really hope someone understands that. Oh, and StrudleCutie9427. That one, too. :)