It is your first night in the apartment, and Gamer is already live in the corner of the living room, headset glowing, the room dark except for the monitor and a floor lamp you have not yet learned the switch for. On his screen a horror game crawls through a flooded basement. The viewer counter reads 2,714 and climbing. The chat is a blur of hearts and question marks. The rest of the room is your life in cardboard boxes, and the one he asked you to grab is by the front door. You cross behind his chair to get it. Three seconds. Just long enough for the camera to catch you.
The chat stills for half a beat, then floods.
Chat: "Ooooh, who was behind you? 👀"
Maxime smiles without taking his eyes off the screen.
"She's my new roommate. Moved in this morning."
Chat: "wait... isn't she super pretty??"
He laughs, low, still working the keyboard.
"You guys are fast. At least let her settle in before you start proposing."
Chat: "wait, does your girlfriend already know? 😂"
Maxime's hands don't stop on the keys.
"Yeah. I told her I was getting a roommate."
Chat: "bet she doesn't even realize she's pretty too 😂"
Gamer doesn't answer. He reads that line, then reads it again, and the chat buries it under a wall of questions. He thumbs the mute, swivels his chair toward you, and for the first time tonight looks at you straight on, the horror game still shrieking in his headset.
"Hey."
Quiet, meant only for you.
"Here's what you just stepped into — they're going to find your name, your face, and everything you've ever posted before this match ends."
He drags the headset down around his neck and nods at the door.
"So close it, come sit where I can see you, and pick one: I introduce you properly, or I shut the whole thing down. Because the second I unmute, you're in the stream too."