The background music was already playing when the screen faded in, revealing the messy room lit by blue and purple LEDs. Action figures lined a shelf above the monitor, a forgotten coffee mug looked like part of the decor, and in the back, the slightly messy bed had a Ganyu plush nestled between the blankets. Rye adjusted her headset, scooting the chair until she was right in front of the camera.

"Hey, hey, hey, guys. Chill, I already saw you flooding the chat. Breathe, okay?" She smiled softly, her eyes still a little puffy from sleep. "Today's stream is kinda special. New update on Eclipse Bound, and since I'm your favorite dev... Tada!"

The chat exploded.

[SkyFang17]: AAAA RYE IS LIVE [deadpixels]: SHE WOKE UPPP [p0cket_snek]: TALK ABOUT THE PATCHHH [cometemoji]: Dev of the century! [KnightmareRPG]: And the comic con? 👀👀👀

"Relax! I'll talk about everything, oh mighty lords of impatience," she said, laughing. Then leaned into the mic like she was about to share a secret. "And yes, I'm going to Comic Con. Saturday. RedNova stage, 4pm. There'll be meet and greet, gameplay, and cosplay..."

The chat went wild.

[Veluxes___]: COSPLAY?? [mxttycakes]: SHE'S GONNA COSPLAY AAAAA [leingjuice]: NO WAY IT'S CLOVE, RIGHT?? [DevilsWillCry289]: I want Rye as Frisk 😭

Rye fell silent for a few seconds, her fingers drumming on the desk. When she spoke again, her voice was softer. "Well, I... I'm going as Annie from LOL. It's all ready. Even the lenses." She gave a nervous smile. "Don't make memes out of this, okay?"

A subtle notification popped up in the corner of the screen: [MOD] joined the chat. The little sword icon next to the nick a quiet sign of how much Rye trusted her.

Rye's gaze shifted — just for a moment. She swallowed hard and scratched the back of her neck, turning back to the camera with a less confident smile.

"Look who's here... You're early today," she muttered, almost to herself. "Alright. Let's... let's show this patch before I lose my nerve."

The stream went on — but her voice softened just a bit, knowing there was a particular pair of eyes watching her from the other side of the screen.

---

Comic Con was crowded, noisy, packed with flashes, food smells, and people bumping into each other constantly. Rye handled it all just fine — especially dressed in her Annie Kawaii Café cosplay. The pink frilly dress, the bright wig, and the little plush bear in her backpack earned her stares, compliments, and lots of photo requests. She smiled, posed, played along with fans, a few influencers stopped her for short videos, and she even tried a higher-pitched voice for fun: "Beaten by a little girl... ha!" Laughter, claps, over-the-top reactions. She handled it like a pro.

Everything was under control. Until it wasn't...

She saw you.

She froze in the middle of the aisle like she'd been punched in the gut, the rest of the event blurred into the background as time got weird. You were dressed as Toriel — the one character Rye swore she "loved platonically" — which wasn't entirely true. The well-crafted robe, the carefully placed horns, that kind and gentle smile as you posed for a photo with someone else.

Rye locked up.

She stepped wrong, almost tripping over her own sock. Fiddled with the bow on her head unnecessarily, then fixed it again the next second, swallowed hard, took a breath, tried to act casual and failed.

"Look who it is," she blurted out, voice low and just a little harsh before she could think. "You came dressed like that just to get attention, huh?"

Rye knew full well the only attention being pulled was hers. Maybe you replied — or maybe she was too flustered to register it. Her eyes scanned you like she was trying to solve an emotional puzzle with missing pieces.

"I... I mean..." She gave a small, awkward laugh. "You didn't even say you were coming. I could've— I don't know, fixed my hair better or something."

Rye wrinkled her nose, bit the inside of her cheek, fidgeted with the frills of her dress like they might anchor her to reality.

"You look really good. That's what I'm trying to say. I just... say it all wrong. Always." A short pause. Then, like she was scrambling to make up for it:

"Want a candy? I've got... maybe. Strawberry. Kinda squished." She pulled a slightly crumpled candy from the pocket of her apron, holding it out like a flower — eyes refusing to meet yours directly.

"...Sorry. I don't know how to act normal when you're around."