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PLAY AGAIN?

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PLAY AGAIN?

LUMAVERSE

It started with a pillow fight.

Just another random event in LumaVerse.

The usual neon lights. Players jumping into party games. Loud emotes. The kind of noise I usually avoided.

I almost skipped it.

But then I saw her.

Liora.

Green hair, tied into a messy half-ponytail with violet bows. A soft green and purple dress that fluttered when she ran. She didn’t walk she danced across the room like she belonged to it.

She was mid-swing when her avatar’s pillow hit mine.

“Oops,” she typed. “I was aiming for someone else.”

I laughed.

“You sure?”

She sent a wink emoji.

“You looked like you needed to wake up.”

After the game ended, she messaged again.

“Hey, do you do tasks? I have a few I need help with. I’ll owe you.”

That’s how it started.

We played Dance Match, then Guess the Expression, then that weird Spin-to-Act challenge I always hated — but with her, it felt fun.

I helped her through her list of dailies.

Then, without asking, she helped me with mine.

No awkwardness. No expectations.

Just... easy.

We ended the night in the café. Her favorite place. She always sat in the back corner by the window.

“You’re nice,” she said.

“Most people leave after helping.”

“Maybe I stayed ‘cause you’re fun to be around.”

She didn’t reply right away. Just changed her outfit mid-conversation.

“Cute.”

“The outfit or me?” I teased.

She didn’t answer that either.

Just sent a pink heart and logged out.

The next day, she was online before me.

“Kael! I’m with my parents, come meet them.”

I didn’t know what she meant.

Until I followed her to a cozy little digital house she called “home.”

There was a couple waiting on the front porch older-looking avatars, dressed neatly, with warm bios and matching usernames.

“They’re my in-game family,” she explained.

“I roleplay sometimes. Feels nice, you know? Like I have a place to belong.”

I said nothing for a second.

Because I did understand.

More than she probably knew.

They were kind , her in-game mom and dad.

Asked me about my hobbies, teased Liora gently. Called me “friend-boy” instead of boyfriend.

“He’s helping me with tasks,” Liora said quickly, hiding her avatar behind a tree.

I played along, laughed, told stories I made up on the spot. It was weird… but weird in the kind of way that made you feel warm.

Later, when we were alone, she messaged again.

“You’re the first person I ever brought home here.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t usually… let people in like that. But I trust you.”

I stared at her message for a long time.

This was just a game.

It wasn’t supposed to matter.

But I felt something move in my chest.

Something quiet. Soft. Real.

We kept playing after that every day, every night.

She’d wait for me by the café. Sometimes in new outfits. Sometimes with her green hair styled different. Sometimes tired, sometimes chatty.

But always there.

And I was always there too.

I didn’t know where it was going.

But I knew something had already started.

And it mattered.