Twitch & Tease

Chapter 2 — A Dinner for Two

***

A long, exaggerated sigh of relief escaped Lucas as the final enemy on his screen finally went down.

"Yes!"

He leaned back in his chair, throwing one hand into the air in victory while the chat exploded with messages.

Fan 1: "FINALLY!"

Fan 4: "Bro survived 😭"

Fan 6: "Go eat the food your roommate made 😂"

Lucas laughed and shook his head.

"Alright, alright. You guys have had enough of me for tonight."

He gave the camera a quick wave and a tired grin.

"Thanks for hanging out, everyone. I'll see you tomorrow."

With one click, he ended the stream.

The bright studio lights immediately dimmed, and the apartment fell strangely quiet as his monitors returned to their desktop screens.

For the first time in hours, there was no frantic chat scrolling across his monitor.

No game sounds.

No microphone.

No thousands of people watching his every move.

Just silence.

Lucas stretched his arms above his head, letting out another quiet sigh as he stood.

Usually, the silence after a stream felt empty.

Tonight, somehow, it didn't.

A warm scent drifted through the apartment.

He followed it toward the dining area and stopped in the doorway.

Lia was standing beside the table, carefully placing the last plate down. Her hair was slightly messy from moving around all afternoon, and a few strands had fallen across her face.

Lucas watched her for a moment.

The table was simple, nothing fancy, but it looked completely different from the way it usually did.

It looked like someone actually lived here.

Like it was a home.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten a home-cooked meal in his own apartment.

Actually, he wasn't sure he'd ever had one.

"Perfect timing," he said, stepping into the room. "I just signed off."

He took another breath, smiling.

"That smells incredible. I hope you didn't go through too much trouble, though. I feel a little bad sitting in there playing games while you're out here doing all this on your first day."

Lia looked over at him.

"It's fine. I wanted to cook."

Lucas pulled out a chair but paused when he felt his phone vibrate inside his pocket.

He ignored it.

For now.

Instead, he sat down and looked at Lia with a curious tilt of his head.

"So, is this a first-day celebration thing, or are you always this organized?"

A playful smile appeared on his face.

"Because if it's the latter, I definitely need to step up my game as a roommate."

Lia laughed softly as she finished arranging the plates.

"Let's just call it a celebration for my first day here. I don't want to be a cold roommate, you know?"

Lucas chuckled.

"Well, I appreciate the warm welcome."

He pulled his chair closer to the table and settled into it.

"It's definitely a step up from my usual routine of eating cold takeout over my keyboard."

He glanced around the apartment.

"Honestly, I was a little worried this might be awkward. Taking in a complete stranger to save some money can go south pretty quickly."

He picked up his fork but didn't eat yet.

Instead, he looked at her.

"But this?"

His eyes moved briefly around the room.

"This is nice."

His expression softened.

"If this is how you handle being a 'warm' roommate, I think we're going to get along just fine."

Lia smiled as she finally took her seat.

Lucas leaned back slightly.

"So, tell me the truth."

His grin returned.

"Now that you've seen the chaos of my stream and the mess in the hallway, are you already regretting signing the lease?"

He paused dramatically.

"Or can you handle living with a guy who screams at pixels for a living?"

Lia laughed.

"At first, I was shocked when I saw the mess in the hallway."

She shook her head, trying not to laugh.

"It looked like someone had been enjoying their freedom for way too long."

Lucas stared at her for a second.

Then he laughed.

"Okay, that's fair."

"But it's totally fine," Lia continued. "I can handle the mess. And the sudden screaming out of nowhere."

She smiled.

"I'm sure I'll get used to it."

Lucas winced playfully, a faint flush creeping up his neck.

"Hey, in my defense, that 'freedom' mess was mostly empty sss boxes from my new PC parts."

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"But yeah... point taken."

He glanced toward the hallway.

"I'm a bit of a disaster when I'm in the middle of a content week."

Lia smiled.

"At least you admit it."

"I have to."

Lucas picked up his fork and finally took a bite of the food.

His expression immediately changed.

His eyebrows rose in genuine surprise.

He chewed quickly before pointing his fork toward her.

"Okay. Wow."

Lia laughed.

"What?"

"This is actually really good."

He took another bite.

"If you're cooking like this, you can scream as much as you want, and I'll consider it a fair trade."

Lia shook her head, laughing.

Lucas smiled before continuing.

"But seriously, thanks for being chill about the streaming."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Some people find it annoying hearing someone yell, 'He's behind the door!' at three in the morning."

"That sounds like something you do often," Lia teased.

Lucas gave her an innocent look.

"Only when necessary."

"Sure."

"Okay, maybe more often than necessary."

They both laughed.

For a moment, everything felt easy.

Natural.

Lucas hadn't realized how long it had been since he'd sat across from someone at a table and simply talked.

Without a camera.

Without an audience.

Without having to entertain anyone.

Then his phone vibrated again.

This time, it was on the table.

The screen lit up.

A familiar picture appeared—a mirror selfie of a beautiful woman.

Céline ❤️

Lucas's smile faded for the briefest moment.

His eyes lingered on the notification.

Another message.

Then another.

He turned the phone face down.

Lia noticed.

She didn't say anything.

Lucas picked up his fork again, but the comfortable atmosphere had shifted slightly.

He cleared his throat.

"So..."

He looked back at Lia.

"Since you've already seen my 'work' life..."

His smile slowly returned.

"What about you?"

He rested his elbow against the table.

"Apart from being a secret chef, what's the rest of your week looking like now that you're officially settled into the madness?"

Lia opened her mouth to answer, but Lucas found himself watching her a little more closely than before.

He couldn't explain why.

Maybe it was because she was different from the people he usually surrounded himself with.

Maybe it was because she didn't seem impressed by his fame.

Or maybe it was simply because, for the first time in months, coming home didn't feel quite so lonely anymore.