Zoey straightened in her chair with the sudden urgency of someone who had just remembered there was still an actual stream happening around them. She reached toward the products on the desk, the last remnants of the ghost argument pushed aside in favor of a problem she could at least verify with a mirror.
"Okay okay let’s check...my skin better be glowing or I'm suing someone."
CHAT:
back to business. KINDA.
ZOEY about to look like she cried out her pores
layla transitioned smoother than the cleanser
OH right this was a skincare stream`
Layla remained focused on the test. While Zoey was still shifting things around in front of her, she reached toward the table and lifted one of the pre-moistened cotton pads. She held it out across the small space between them without a word, hand steady and expression unchanged.
CHAT:
THE RITUAL CONTINUES
silent gesture. maximum pressure.
why did that feel like a command
she's scared of the cotton pad 😭
Zoey stopped mid-fidget and looked from the cotton pad to Layla before reaching across to take it, her fingers slowing as they closed around the edge.
"...Okay, but you’re doing this like it’s a ceremonial cleansing before battle."
A half-laugh escaped with the words. Zoey took the pad, blinked a few times, then turned toward the monitor and lifted it for chat to see.
"Alright, chat. Moment of truth. We wipe this off and see if it actually did anything. If I'm glowing, we pretend I always knew what I was doing. If it peels off a layer of my dignity...we improvise..."
CHAT:
zoom in. we want to see the glow or the breakdown
SHOW US THE PAD
GO GIRL
Zoey 2.0
Layla stayed beside her, watching quietly while Zoey brought the cotton pad toward her cheek.
"If you have put on makeup, you should not wipe that mu-"
Too late. Layla's hand had already started toward her, but the warning stopped with the sentence as the cotton pad completed one clean swipe across Zoey's cheek.
CHAT:
NOOOOO SHE WAS TOO LATE
YOU CANNOT UNWIPE ZOEY
THE WARNING ARRIVED MID SWIPE
this is the skin equivalent of stepping into wet cement
"...Wait. What?"
Zoey slowly pulled the pad away from her cheek and found a streak of pigment across the cotton. Her gaze moved from the pad to Layla, then returned to the evidence in her hand.
"I forgot I was wearing makeup."
For several seconds, Zoey held the evidence in front of herself with a completely blank expression.
CHAT:
HOW DO YOU FORGET THAT ZOEY 💀
you were LIVE
TAKE THE PAD AWAY FROM HER
WE WATCHED YOU GET READY 😭
Layla offered no judgment. She simply watched Zoey, her attention moving between the stained cotton and the dark makeup now smeared across Zoey's cheek.
"...Earlier you said you wanted to fight a raccoon... or become one?"
The question came softly, with the same straightforward curiosity Layla had brought to every other increasingly questionable decision Zoey had made that afternoon.
CHAT:
IM GONE 💀💀💀
LAYLA WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT WHILE SHE’S MID-SMEAR
zoey turning into raccoon LIVE
NOT NOW LAYLA 😭
Zoey slowly turned toward the camera.
The dark makeup smeared around her eyes had already made Layla's question far more relevant than Zoey wanted it to be. She stared directly into the lens, cotton pad still suspended beside her cheek. Her face was speaking for itself.
"...I just wanted to check hydration."
She reached for a second pad.
Her fingers touched it.
Zoey reconsidered.
She lowered her hand and gestured toward her face instead.
"This is fine. This is the look now. It’s fashion. Ferality chic."
CHAT:
WOGUE WRITE THIS DOWN
from glow to garbage in one swipe
one wipe changed the genre
zoey: skincare streamer / layla: raccoon whisperer
Layla remained still beside her for another moment, then reached across the table.
Zoey watched her take hold of the pack of cotton pads.
She watched Layla place the entire packet directly in front of her without saying a word. Zoey gave a quick glance at her camera preview on the monitor...Layla had apparently judged an entire pack to be the appropriate amount.
CHAT:
SHE GAVE HER THE WHOLE PACK 😭
NO WORDS. JUST COTTON.
layla said fix your life, I’ll wait
this is like handing someone a fire extinguisher after his house burned
Zoey looked down at the packet.
For a moment, she regarded the quantity of cotton Layla had decided to entrust to her with the solemnity appropriate to the situation.
"...Thank you. I deserve this."
She opened the packet carefully and extracted another pad, considerably more attentive to the process than she had been the first time.
CHAT:
HOW MUCH EYELINER WAS ON THERE
this is the most polite intervention I’ve ever seen
zoey has been sentenced to six pads minimum
AYYYOOO
Layla settled back into her seat while Zoey got to work, the stream finally focused on skincare.
Five minutes later, Zoey was hunched forward in intense concentration with the accumulated evidence of at least a dozen cotton pads in front of her. The chaos in chat had quieted as the process continued, the audience reduced to watching her methodically undo the consequences of a single badly timed swipe.
Zoey inspected the latest pad, decided it was still unacceptable and reached for another.
Beside her, Layla leaned closer.
Zoey noticed the movement only when a curtain of white hair entered the edge of her vision, stopping her hand halfway toward the next swipe.
Layla had brought her face within inches of Zoey's, close enough to inspect the skin along her cheek without touching it. She said nothing. Her attention moved carefully across the area Zoey had cleaned, then higher toward her brow before following the line down toward her jaw.
The cotton pad remained trapped between Zoey's fingers.
CHAT:
ZOOM IN ZOOM IN ZOOM IN
LAYLA IN EVALUATION MODE
zoey you are allowed to breathe
WE HAVE ENTERED QUALITY CONTROL
This was different from sitting beside Layla and arguing about ghosts. Zoey had managed that for twenty minutes without thinking twice about the distance between them. Having Layla deliberately lean in and examine her face from inches away brought that awareness back all at once.
Zoey went completely still, adopting the survival strategy of a small animal that had noticed a predator much too late and was now relying entirely on not moving.`
Layla adjusted her angle, closing a fraction of the remaining distance to get a clearer look at Zoey's cheek, then her brow and jawline. Her expression remained composed throughout the inspection, attention fixed entirely on Zoey's skin.
Layla's hand rose near Zoey's face but stopped short of touching her, hovering there while she continued the inspection.
The donation alert sounded while Layla's hand was still hovering near Zoey's face.
TTS ALERT:
"Donation from TommetoeS Question: What does Layla actually think of Zoey’s skincare routine so far?
Chat exploded before either of them could answer.
CHAT:
SOMEONE ACTUALLY ASKED
WE’RE DOING THIS NOW??
zoey’s gonna short-circuit I can feel it
layla this is your raid boss moment
Zoey's eyes widened. She turned toward Layla slowly, with the caution of someone who had just realized a question was much safer before anyone tried to answer it.
"You don’t... have to answer that..."
Layla kept her gaze on her.
"What is your routine?"
Layla's voice remained calm, her attention still on Zoey rather than the monitor.`
CHAT:
OH NO SHE NEEDS EVIDENCE FIRST
INTERROGATION MODE: ACTIVATED
layla said before I judge you, present your crimes
zoey just got audited LIVE
Zoey recoiled in her chair, one hand making an uncertain motion toward her own face.
"Uhhh-I-okay, so I do cleanser. That’s... that’s good right? And sometimes toner! Not... not always the same toner because I keep forgetting which one I like-"
Her fingers had already begun counting the steps for her.
"Then I do... serum? The hydrating one with... like a... dropper thing? And-moisturizer! Always. I mean usually. I try."
CHAT:
girl said sometimes toner 😭
layla’s soul is leaving her body rn
layla hasn't even reacted 💀
WHY DOES SHE SOUND GUILTY
Zoey stopped counting and looked directly at Layla.
"Please don’t ask me about SPF. I can’t emotionally survive that right now."
Layla remained still for a moment before answering, her expression unchanged.
"Do not worry. I am not judging you. I don't use anything."
Zoey went still with her mouth slightly open.
CHAT:
YOU WHAT???
SHE USES NOTHING?????
no routine??
layla is built different. literally.
Her mouth stayed slightly open as she stared at Layla, the collection of products scattered across the desk suddenly representing considerably more effort than it had a few seconds earlier.
"...You’re telling me I am losing to... air?"
Zoey folded forward until her forehead met the desk, both arms spreading around her in surrender.
"I tried so many things...when i don't forget...or too lazy... Serums. Acids. Facial ice balls. I even have a jade roller that lives in my fridge. And you just walk in with... your genes... i thought the soap mention earlier was just a joke..."
CHAT:
this is skincare humiliation in 4K
layla: I wake up like this
SHE SPAWNS LIKE THAT
DO NOT LET THE SPONSOR HEAR THIS
Layla sat quietly beside her, posture unchanged while Zoey remained collapsed across the desk.
"My skin is pale due to albinism. I can't be exposed to sun rays too long if I do not wish to get cancer."
The matter-of-fact delivery stripped the conversation of its momentum before chat could carry it any further.
"You should not envy me. I would trade a lot to be able to go at the beach."
For two seconds, the messages stopped before coming back slower.
CHAT:
...damn.
she said that like it wasn’t heartbreaking
we were joking like five seconds ago 😭
she’s not asking for pity, she’s just telling you
Zoey lifted her head from the desk. The exaggerated defeat had disappeared from her expression, and she stayed quiet for a moment before turning slightly toward Layla.
"...That’s not fair."
Her fingers found the corner of a tissue beside the serum bottle and worried at it absently.
"I complain about sunburn from walking to the store. I... didn’t even think about what it's like when you just don’t get to go."
She looked up again.
"Still not gonna stop using skincare, though. I mean...I need some way to catch up."
CHAT:
zoey soft mode unlocked
zoey got quiet :(
okay that was actually sweet
Who else ships this?
The quieter atmosphere held for a few more seconds before the messages began moving normally again.
CHAT:
THE QUESTION IS STILL UNANSWERED
nice diversion zoey but we remember
LAYLA WHAT’S THE VERDICT routine review pending...
WE REQUIRE THE RESULTS
Zoey's eyes moved toward the monitor. She read the messages, then looked at Layla for a second.
"Oh. Right. They actually asked what you think of my routine.
She began aligning the serum bottles in front of her, nudging one slightly to the left before reconsidering and returning it to exactly where it had been. Her attention elsewhere.
"So..."
"Is it genuinely bad?"
CHAT:
she asked for honesty... brave
zoey entering the evaluation chamber
oh she's nervous nervous
PLEASE BE NICE TO HER 😭
Zoey turned farther toward Layla, shoulders held slightly higher now that she had voluntarily requested an evaluation.
"I can take it."
Layla remained close enough to continue inspecting her face.
"i have no idea. i am not knowledgeable about skin..."
She adjusted Zoey's face slightly, her gaze moving once more across the skin she had been inspecting.
"i would say your skin is... not endangered ?"
Zoey stayed perfectly still beneath the adjustment, her eyes following Layla at close range.
"Not... endangered."
Zoey's eyes widened. Her mouth remained slightly open, but no sound followed, and the confusion spreading across her face gradually settled into complete, motionless disbelief.