The footsteps finally reached the room.
The soft rustle of fabric came first.
Then came the faint clink of metal as something was set down gently somewhere off-camera.
"Hello."
Layla's voice was quiet and composed.
The chat immediately exploded.
CHAT:
SHE SPEAKS
WHY DID THAT FEEL LIKE CHURCH BELLS?!
I FELT THAT IN MY SPINE
Zoey stopped worrying at the edge of her sleeve the instant she heard Layla's voice.
She turned toward her, mouth already opening for whatever introduction she'd presumably prepared. Nothing followed.
One hand rose halfway before Zoey seemed to realize she still hadn't produced a word. She lowered it again.
Her chat noticed immediately.
CHAT:
ZOEY???
HELLO???
SYSTEM REBOOTING
ZOEY.EXE HAS STOPPED RESPONDING
Layla stepped into frame, and the camera took a moment to adjust around her.
In person, she was somehow even more striking than the photographs Zoey had seen online.
Long white hair fell over her shoulders and continued down her back, catching the light until some of the finer strands nearly disappeared into it. The same unusual white extended to her eyebrows and eyelashes. Against skin so pale, there was almost nothing to soften the contrast of her eyes.
They were red.
Not the warm brown that cameras sometimes pushed toward red, or a trick of bad lighting. Even through the webcam, the color stood out immediately beneath those white lashes.
The black of her dress only sharpened everything around it. Dark fabric against pale skin, white hair against black, those startling eyes between the two. There was nothing particularly elaborate about the way Layla carried herself, yet the overall effect made Zoey's earlier attempts to describe her as elegant suddenly feel inadequate.
More remarkable than any of it was how little Layla seemed affected by the attention.
She stood beside the setup with the same composure she'd had at the door. No visible excitement, no obvious nervousness, not even the uncertain glance someone might give a camera during their first livestream. Her face rested in an almost perfect neutrality.
Calm wasn't quite the same thing as empty. There simply wasn't enough on the surface to tell what was happening underneath.
Layla looked briefly toward the camera before turning her attention to Zoey.
Her expression didn't change, completely unreadable.
The chat went insane.
CHAT:
SHE'S REAL
This is a video game cutescene
LOOK AT HER EYES
ZOEY.EXE HAS CRASHED
WHY DOES SHE LOOK SO CALM
Zoey made a tiny, strangled noise.
She cleared her throat, way too loudly...
"Hi!"
Her voice came out higher than usual.
She swallowed.
"Um..."
She looked at Layla.
A quick glance at the camera.
Then back at Layla.
"I said that already."
A nervous little laugh escaped her.
"Ahem."
"Hi again."
Layla answered with a small nod. If Zoey's increasingly complicated greeting had confused her, nothing in her face showed it.
"Hello."
Zoey blinked.
Somehow, receiving the same perfectly ordinary greeting a second time left her with even fewer usable words.
"You're..."
One hand gestured vaguely in Layla's direction.
"You look..."
The gesture continued despite having apparently lost its purpose somewhere along the way.
She glanced at the table.
Then back at Layla.
"...very prepared for skincare."
The chat exploded.
CHAT:
HELP
She broke
THAT'S WHAT SHE WENT WITH?!
ZOEY WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN
I CAN FEEL THE EMBARRASSMENT THROUGH MY SCREEN
"Do I?" Layla asked softly.
Her expression remained unreadable.
"I'm really nervous, though. It's my first time in a stream."
The statement arrived in exactly the same quiet tone as everything else she'd said.
Nothing visible accompanied it. Layla's posture remained relaxed, her hands still, her expression as difficult to read as before. Had she not said it herself, there would have been no obvious reason to think she was nervous at all.
CHAT:
??? SHE'S NERVOUS???
She doesn't even blink HOW is she nervous
WHY DOES SHE SOUND LIKE A VILLAIN'S FAVORITE DAUGHTER
Surprise hit Zoey's entire face at once.
Her hands flew up, but she caught herself before she could start flailing and grabbed the back of her chair instead.
"Y-you're nervous? YOU'RE nervous??"
She stared at Layla.
"You just floated into the room like a perfume ad. I tripped over my own ethernet cable twenty minutes ago!"
A laugh burst out of her much louder than intended.
Zoey immediately slapped a hand over her mouth.
CHAT:
LAYLA STANDING THERE LIKE A GHOST OF ELEGANCE AND ZOEY'S COMBUSTING
This is better than TV
REAL ZOEY IS BACK
GREMLIN ZOEY
Layla's red eyes stayed on Zoey for a little longer than expected before drifting toward the setup.
"Okay!"
Zoey immediately turned her attention to the table.
"So... right. Uh, this is your seat here."
She gestured toward it.
"I thought we could start with the... uh... cleansing balm? If that's okay?"
She looked between Layla and the camera.
"Or... do you wanna say hi to chat first?"
Zoey quickly added,
"You don't have to, like, at all. I'll tank them for you."
CHAT:
LET HER SPEAK
We are being polite! (BARELY)
CHAT, STAY. CHAT, BEHAVE.
Zoey suddenly realized she'd been holding her breath and finally exhaled, loudly.