"Alright," Sage sighed, pushing away from the desk, the wheels of her chair rumbling across the wooden floor. "You guys said ten more minutes, ten minutes ago! This is going to be the longest outro ever."
A glowing grin flickered on her facial recognition mask, belying her exasperated tone of voice. She stood to hover over the keyboard; her engulfing knit sweater hanging forward with her. Yasuo ran around her legs, huffing and puffing for attention. A smile surfaced as she glanced at her corgi, amused by his excitable expression and lolling tongue.
The gesture control mask was slick with sweat after three hours on stream. While she loved her community, Sage ached to log off and wash up. Furrowing her brow, she watched the comments fly by, picking out the ones she could catch.
Awwww, why? :sad:
Have a goodnight!
Stayyyyyy
Let her go, guys, it's been three hours!
We love you Sagely!
What are you doing after this???
"Thanks for understanding, everyone," Sage replied with a wave. "Have a good rest of your night or day, or morning, depending on where you are. After this, I'm heading to grab a bite to eat, takeout, of course. Until next time!"
Sage hit the End Live button, waiting until the red light on her cam winked off before slipping the mask from her face. Long strands of hair clung to the sides of her jaw, making Sage grimace as she hung the mask up just beside her PC.
It was imperative she closed out the OBS program after saving duplicate files. If she forgot, videos for the channel ran late, and her fans would be disappointed. She had the tendency to start things, get distracted, then leave them for her future self to clean up.
Not today.
She exported the files and closed every window, hitting update and shut down. The whirring water cooler slowed, neon green spinning lights dimming to nothing. Sage watched with eyes that weren't really seeing, hands hanging limply between her knees as she breathed and reveled in the quiet.
This was the city, so pure silence was a blessing she couldn't afford. The soft sound of passing vehicles and shouting voices leaked through the windows cracked to let in the late summer air, ruffling devil's ivy perched on the oak sills.
Sage loved this apartment more than she loved herself. From the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves built into the brick walls to the chipped original hardwood and dated kitchen—she cherished it all. Even the echoing, drafty rafters leading to a wide skylight that poured golden hour sun into the space.
Not once had she complained to the landlord at the lack of installed light fixtures. During the day, she got quite enough naturally. At night, nightlight was set to near orange on her primary monitor to reduce eye strain, and the only other sources were corner lamps with soft bulbs or flickering candles.
The thought reminded her that she needed to go to the store for them, food, and dog treats. But the store equaled people, and people equaled forced social interaction… Sage wiped her hands down the front of her leggings, fingers twitching.
Rather than respond to the call of picking at the skin around her nails, she turned her attention to the kitchen full of copper backsplash that had character and white linoleum counters that didn't. The clash of them brought about forced focus when her mind wandered.
It did that an awful lot.
She had to stand up, get her shoes on, and go out. Her therapist made Sage promise to leave the safety of this perfect haven once per week, so she did.
Taking Yasuo on a well-deserved run for exercise and picking up her favorite burger just to cancel out any well-meant calories burned. Sage had never cared for looking a certain way. Nine times out of ten, she wore activewear without being active in the slightest.
Yasuo huffed and ran around the chair twice before sitting in front of her, nub wagging back and forth like the rudder of a boat. Sage smiled, laughing to herself as she reached down to scratch him behind the ears. One of them was propped up while the other flopped to the side, his amber eyes striking under the fading sun as he panted.
"So, it's a one ear up-one ear down, kind of day?" she murmured.
He yelped before running toward the front door and dancing just beneath his leash. Sage shook her head and stood up with a groan, slapping her hands against creaking knees. If her birth certificate didn't say 1997, she would've sworn she was eighty. Already in yoga pants and a sports bra, Sage peeled off her sweater and strode after that corgi booty, grabbing her windbreaker on the way.