u/n : user name

tws: swearing

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clay's pov *

i closed my laptop as u/n's stream ended and rubbed hand across my face. i hadn't realized it in the moment, but my cheeks were sore from smiling so much, and i moved my jaw to work out the sore spots. it wasn't the least bit surprising that watching her stream had that effect on me. she was incredibly entertaining to watch, and furthermore her skill at the game was almost unmatched. she constantly engaged with her chat and made sure there was never a dull moment when she was recording. i had been watching her content for about a month now, and her streams had grown to be one of my favorite parts of my week.

i didn't regret donating in any way, but i wondered if i should have done it on an alternate account. twitter was already speculating that we were irl friends or in a relationship despite the reality being that we literally didn't even know each other. i was used to this kind of feedback after interacting with new people, but i wasn't sure if u/n was, so i was crossing my fingers that the drama wasn't making her uncomfortable. there was less dreamnotfound going around and more u/nwastaken, which made me want to crumple into a ball of embarrassment.

i stretched and rolled over to reach my phone on my nightstand, curious if twitter was still passing around the clips where i donated and building theories off of them. i cautiously opened the app and scrolled, liking posts from my friends and only seeing a handful of new tweets about my activity on u/n's stream, which drew a sigh of relief from my chest. with how fast the news was blowing up, i was afraid it was bound to become a trending tag, and then i would have to have had to have a real nice talk with the caption guy about immortalizing our supposed romance. thankfully, that wasn't necessary yet.

i yawned deeply, a shiver shooting up my spine as i stretched and hugged the blanket on my bed closer to my chest. i clicked my phone off and leaned over to set it down on my nightstand, but before i did the screen brightened with a new notification. i turned it toward me to quickly check if it was anything important, and the headline of the banner told me it was a dm on twitter, which i normally would have brushed over at this time of night. tired but curious, i squinted to read who it was from anyway, and my expression melted into one of raised eyebrows and wide eyes.

the dm was from u/n. i swiped up to open it.

: hey i just wanted to thank you for the donos today :)

: you summoned an entire fandom to my content on accident and i'm very appreciative lol

my thumbs idled over the keypad as i tossed my words back and forth. after staring at the letters until they blurred together, i sent a response.

: no problem! your stream was really good :)

she responded a couple seconds later.

: :)

if you hadn't told me where the fortress was i wouldn't have beaten your time today just fwi so you kinda screwed yourself lol

i'll knock you back down on the leaderboard dw :)

cock 😏

...

Y

COCKY

fuck

LMAO

is this how you are with all the people you dm

just straight to the point

cock

not at all not at all no lol

i'll have you know you should be honored you are the first person i've ever dmed on this app

i feel so special

you should :)

wait i take that back you're the second person because i messaged a fan one time thanking them for being active on my streams

she revealed herself to be a fifty year old man and then asked me for feet pics though so honestly we can just brush over that

: that plot twist really hit like a sack of bricks huh

: so you feel my pain yeah

: i thought princess_k1tty1222 and i were friends : heart 💔 been broke 📉 so many times ⏰ i don't know 🤔 what to believe 💯

that's a dead meme now though i'm sorry i sent that 😔✊

: mama 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 said 🗣 it's my fault 😢 it's my fault 🤦🏻‍♂️i wear my heart ❤️ on my sleeve 💪

: can't believe i really just googled the copypasta to finish that with you smh

AND IT DOESN'T EVEN LINE UP CAUSE YOU SENT ANOTHER MESSAGE

: damn alright that was practically a marriage proposal dream

was it

absolutely

that was a rhetorical statement i did not expect you to agree to it

idc

i wonder if we could get a heart locket with the lyrics stuck on each side

but it's a song about heartbreak wouldn't you want like a song about love or something on it instead?

no no there's symbolism there

cause like when you put the pieces of the locket together the heart is unbroken!!!

i'm unconvinced

smh you don't understand my creative genius

guess i'll just put u/nwastaken inside the locket instead fine

so romantic oh my 😍

only for you 😍

pls i've been scrolling forever trying to find a locket that'll put the text i want on it but apparently it doesn't fit i'm gonna cry

it's okay it's okay we can have a metaphorical heart locket

that way we can always carry it in our hearts :)

the sentimentality...

...is cute? :)

is sickening

ur sickening >:(

wait #u/nwastaken is trending now oh god

OH GOD THERE'S FANART ALREADY HOW ARE THEY SO FAST

WTF

wait it's so good though

our love is inspiring so much creativity dream this is great

our love? 😟

dw we're only faking it to the public so we can eat up that sweet sweet fan pandering reward

so you don't actually love me :(

i

just met you

but i love a man that knows what he wants 😍

ana from frozen moment hello?

does that make you hans

wait so then who would i fall in love with if you're the twist villain??

george???

nope nope nope

bad comparison i take it back

i mean

unless you wanna go for an enemies to lovers arc 😏

ugh the romance would be IMMACULATE

but unfortunately

u/nwastaken just stopped trending so i legally have to divorce you now goodbye

WHAT

how did we speedrun both getting married and getting divorced

because that's what happens when you rush love dreamy poo

it's all about the slowburn

: if you call me dweamy poo one more time we're gonna have issues >:(

: pissbaby >:(

: oh? wait?

fan alert? you know the inside joke?

: ???

i mean i was just using it as a common insult but thanks for confirming you piss the bed

but you were following me before you dmed me 😏

what's the secret stan account where you're leaking our dms

COCKY

: you have 2.1 million twitter followers dream it's less surprising that i'm one of them than you are one of my 113.2k so check where you stand fan >:)

: wait i just looked and we've been mutuals for a month and i didn't even know what is happening

: you don't read your notifs that's what's happening

: i've liked your tweets and everything

: oh so you're in deep huh

: i'm so honored

: just doing my duty as a devoted fan

: if you're the feet pic guy in disguise please just reveal yourself now i can't handle another heartbreak

: do you think i would actually reveal my identity if i was soliciting feet pics from girls

: feet pic guy would never lie to me so yes

: you scare me

: like a lot

: good that is exactly the kind of response i want people to have when they speak to me

: i can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not but i'm too tired to think about it

: talking to you was an expierence that i had 👍

: are you saying you're going to sleep pissbaby

: sleep is for the weak brah 🥶🥶🥶

: didn't you literally end stream because you were going to bed

: wait if you're still awake does that mean you stayed up just to talk to me

: omg uwuwuwuwu

: yeah i definitely regret dming you in the first place

: goodnight 🖕

: goodnight lolol

i turned off my phone and laid it against my chest, resting my arm above my head as tiredness overtook me once again. the feeling growing heavier as i sunk into the plush cushioning of my mattress, i didn't even bother to plug in my device and set it on my nightstand, i just drifted off into a restful slumber.

that slumber was soon interrupted by my phone vibrating against my chest, and i jumped at the jolting sensation, fumbling to press the right button to make it stop. i turned the screen towards my face and squinted at the uncomfortably bright light to read who was calling me. it was antfrost. i answered.

"hey, what's up?" i asked, my voice hoarse from the few dormant hours i hadn't used it.

"oh, i'm so sorry if i woke you," he apologized, picking up on my gravelly tone.

"it's fine," i assured, stretching my arm after it had fallen asleep, "are you okay though ant? you sound nasally."

he laughed once. "about that, i think i've come down with a cold. i know we're streaming manhunt tomorrow, but—"

"oh, no, don't worry about it," i cut him off, knowing where he was going. "just rest up. i can.. figure something out."

"thanks dream. i'm so sorry—" he coughed, and when he spoke again his voice sounded scratchier than before— "ah, wow, i really feel like crap," he laughed.

"it's all good. feel better."

"i'll try, thanks. night."

"night."

i hung up and ran my hands through my hair. what was i going to do? i could postpone the stream, but i had already tweeted about it, and i didn't want to let everyone down. i could film with just george, bad, and sapnap, but then the stakes would be less than the last time we filmed. at this point, the latter choice was starting to sound the most appealing, but i still brainstormed other solutions as i laid restlessly staring at my ceiling.

i started mentally flipping through a list of people who would make a good opponent in antfrost's place, and after some consideration and a hesitant text on my end, i contacted just that person.

: quick question u/n

: would you be interested in being a hunter in manhunt tomorrow?