My Virtual Lover

Live 36: The Crab First Trip

Kevin looks at the reflection of his face on the airplane window, the clock is ticking to nine. The whole family is on a plane, heading to the big city called Surabaya. He had to look better in front of the crowds with the newly purchased batik shirt he bought with his aunt yesterday. He texts the grumpy fellow, Tempesta whether she’s still awake.

The young woman responds rather quickly, complaining that her father is too loud and picky with her clothes. Kevin chuckles as he fixes his glasses, the plane has yet to take off since it still waits for the remaining passenger that has yet onboard. He asks her if she’s busy tomorrow, to which she replies with a pout.

She had to attend a birthday ball in the black dress she just bought with her father the other day. He raises his eyebrows, thinking that he too had to attend a strange birthday ball of his distant relative’s daughter. It was strange that a child’s birthday theme is a ball, it’s too extravagant in his opinion.

Then again, his aunt tells him that their distant relative is a rich one, thus that party is nothing for them but fun.

“I guess this is what they call Crazy Rich Asian” he jokes, texting Tempesta. “So what are you up to?” he asks her.

“I’m going to sleep, what about you?” she asks him back.

The plane has yet to take off, they arrive at the airport rather early and had to wait for the others to make their entrance. He still has time, texting the lonely Tempesta who seems to be seeking his attention. Kevin smiles, asking if she’s being naughty at the night sometimes, it was a bold question coming from the nerdy otaku.

“Hey, are you feeling naught now?” he asks her boldly.

She doesn’t reply to her discord for a while, but he can imagine her flustered expression. He receives another reply, but it’s a flustered reply instead of a provocative one. She is embarrassed with his flirtation, asking if the flirt is more meaningful than she thought than a playful tease.

Kevin texts her excitingly, teasing the innocent woman that he flirts with because he’s comfortable in doing so with her. The woman is cute, even if he had an inkling that she’s older than he is. However, she’s gullible and rather cute at the same time with her inflated ego when she plays APEX with him.

“Say, aren’t you on the plane?” she asks him. “You still can text me?”.

“Yeah, I can! It’s not flying yet that’s why” he texts back. “But geez I feel like I could sleep any minute now”.

“Why didn’t you leave in the morning or afternoon? Why do you have to pick at nighttime?” Tempesta asks with a question emoji. “Is your parents busy or something?”.

He explains it with a groan, it’s mostly because of his uncle and aunt’s job. Kevin remembers that he had to attend an online seminar as well as a part of his homework. He doesn’t want to remember his homework, rather he wants to forget everything about the seminar since he falls asleep while listening to the lecturer speak about the importance of home decoration.

His essay homework is due the day after today, he just wants to go home and continue his essay before it’s too late. Tempesta giggles a bit, telling him that he’s quite busy with college homework while she’s busy with her work. His mind lights up, he wants to ask her age but he doesn’t want to be inappropriate.

“So how old are you, Kani?” she asks directly before he even got the chance to type the question.

“Twenty” he answers short. “How about you, Tempesta?”.

She is above twenty years old, and a graduate of Visual Communication Design major. Tempesta has been working as a graphic design freelancer for almost a year. She had another side job, which is a broadcaster she told me earlier. However, something tells Kevin that she’s more than meets the eyes.

Her APEX gameplay is similar to the Vtuber he always teases, Rhapsody who is a pro RPG player but terrible at APEX. She’s cute, courageous, and can be foul-mouthed at times. He asks the woman if she knows a Vtuber with the name Rhapsody, she should have known some Vtubers since she always follows Kano’s activity.

“Since you’re a fan of Kano then surely, you know Rhapsody, right?” he asks her curiously. “Do you know Rhapsody?”.

As if flinched, her text goes on a pause in discord. She was texting something before but she pauses her typing when she read the word Rhapsody. Afterward, she replies with an immediate ‘no’ since she’s not a fan of female Vtuber. Since she’s busy with work, she barely gets any chance to watch Kano’s stream.

“Makes sense, so that means you’re only following Kano, huh?” he asks again, somewhat interrogating since he had his suspicion for a while. “So you’re saying, you don’t know anything about Rhapsody”.

“I think so, I heard her name but I don’t know her personally” she replies short. “I’m not interested in female Vtubers, since they’re not handsome after all”.

It’s very Tempesta-like, not caring of the female Vtubers since they’re females. Tempesta is into a young-looking man like Kano. He’s starting to see her taste ever since he hangs out with her, which can be baffling. The stewardess makes her announcement as the last passengers are already on board, the plane will be in the sky any minute soon.

He bids her farewell, telling her that he will be unavailable to contact because he’s going airborne. It was a short chat but meaningful for him, he’s somewhat uncertain about what he wants since she sounds older than him. At her age, she would be busy with works and marriage proposals.

“Oh right, I haven’t asked if she’s married,” he thinks for a while. “Or have I asked that yet? I don’t know, I forgot”.

The door is closing and the plane is going fast through the clean road, the stewardess warns the passengers to wear their seatbelt and safety measures as usual. Her niece is sleeping on her left, she sits in the middle seat while near the hallway is her aunt. He asks her to switch seats with her since he likes seeing the sky.

Even if it’s dark, watching the clouds make his heart beats calmly, relaxing through the fluffy white clouds.

“I wonder if it’s going to take long” he wonders as his eyes gaze upon the cloudy sky. “The sky doesn’t look too good, I hope it’s not going to be a stormy night”.

The plane sets off, leaving Bandung away to head into a new city that he’s never been to which is Surabaya. He will be only staying there for a day, he’s not sure if he can meet the mysterious Tempesta face to face since she stays there. He can’t help but be curious to see how she looks like when they’re meeting each other.

He hasn’t ask about his social media account, the real one that is not a Holorealm account.

“Perhaps, you’re in love my boy” his aunt suddenly smiles at Kevin who gazes endlessly at the clouds. “What are you thinking? I’ve been seeing you chatting with someone in your gadget with a bright smile on your face, is it a girl?”.

Kevin notices his aunt’s smile is sincere, he can see the reflection of his aunt’s sincerity from the window as he turns around to face her. He shakes his head in uncertainty, even he doesn’t know it himself. However, his reddened cheeks tell everything even if he doesn’t say a word to his aunt.

“So you’re in love with someone” she nods. “Perhaps, you’re uncertain with your feelings?”.

“Maybe so” he sighs heavily. “It’s just an online relationship auntie, I haven’t met any new friends since the pandemic starts! Maybe that’s why I’m lonely and starting to consider this random online girl to be the one for me”.

“There’s nothing wrong with that Kevin, I’m sure it’s a part of your growth process” she taps his shoulder. “Growing up and falling in love is part of your growth! Nothing wrong with that I suppose my darling”.

*   *   *

Falling asleep while listening to Vocaloid music, he was awakened by the sound of rain on his left. He blinks his eyes, seeing the droplets of water on the plane window overflowing. It was heavy rain but nothing to be worried about since there’s no indication of a storm. At least that’s what the stewardess announces on the plane, to calm the passengers.

“I’m tired, are we there yet?” her niece yawns as she tugs on Kevin’s hoodie sloppily. “I still want to sleep”.

“Sleep then, we’re not there yet” Kevin pats her head. “Your mum is asleep?”.

Kevin glances at his auntie, sleeping soundly next to his niece. His niece nods drowsily, nuzzling her head into his warm hoodie. 

“You’re warm, so I’ll sleep here,” she says casually.

“Okay, sleep well” Kevin brushes his niece bangs from her forehead. “Sweet dreams”.