Survival

Epilogue: Games

Pezzy sat at his computer, staring at the dark screen. He and his friends had been home now for 6 months, and while he'd done two or three small streams before, he'd never felt ready to be fully back.

He was thankful he had lots of vods to have edited into different videos, his editors being incredibly understanding. His viewers too were incredibly understanding, and Pezzy was thankful for every person he had for support.

Today though, he wanted to try to get back into it. Streaming at least twice a week to start, as he'd announced on Twitter. He did say he didn't know if he'd be able to keep it in the beginning, but he did want to try and stream more.

Today was also going to be Grizzy's first stream since they'd gotten home. He'd been doing better, Matt staying around even long after Smii7y and John had gone home.

Matt had moved in with Grizzy as far as Pezzy knew, and the changes had been immense. Grizzy was smiling again, laughing and telling jokes. He wasn't 100% yet, and Pezzy knew he might never be truly 100%, but it was a massive leap and Pezzy was very proud of him.

Droid stuck his head into Pezzys room, smiling faintly at him. "You ready for this love?" He asked and Pezzy smiled back, nodding. He and Droid had technically made it official, though they never put a label on it. They were best friends, but more. Jokingly calling each other boyfriend, but never feeling as if the word really described it right.

"I think I am. Smii7y and John online?" He asked and Droid nodded, winking at him before walking out. Pezzy turned back to his computer, taking a deep breath and booting everything up.

Discord showed that everyone but him, Grizzy and Matt were in the call, though the other two were online. He set up the game, the six of them going to play some Lethal Company.

He joined the call, hearing Smii7y and John laughing at something Droid had said. "Hey guys," Pezzy greeted them, still setting things up to stream.

"Hey Pezwald!" John said cheerfully, Pezzy rolling his eyes in amusement. Grizzy and Matt joined a few minutes later, cheers coming through Pezzy's headphones.

"Alright, I'm starting stream so I'm muting a moment, hang on," Pezzy said, his mouse hovering over "go live". "I'll text once we're ready to start," Droid said cheerfully and Pezzy smiled, nodding to the discord camera before muting.

He stared at the button for a moment, chewing on his lip. His "starting" screen was up and ready, and knowing that the viewers wouldn't see him until he was ready helped him click the button.

His music was playing, everything feeling so familiar and comforting his shoulders relaxed. People started flooding chat, the quiet chime he'd replaced his alert tone with going off near constantly.

He'd had to change his alert tone that first stream, when someone had sent 5 gifted and the loud pop had nearly sent him into a panic attack. His chat had been understanding, waiting for him to come back and tell them he'd changed the tone to something quieter.

He really did have the best viewers.

"Hey guys, how've you been?" Pezzy greeted them, still not turning his camera on yet but reading the words flying on his stream.

500 bits popped up, the text to speech message appearing a few seconds later. "Hey Pezzy, welcome back! I don't think you'll remember me, but about 7 and a half months ago, I'd messaged during your last stream before you left that hotel and said my sister was missing. She finally came home last month! She and her best friend are home safe!"

Pezzy smiled brightly, his heart warming. He'd remembered that, and the entire time they were trying to get out of San Diego, he'd been thinking of her and this chatter.