Courtney and Saige seperate as the afternoon turns to evening, both with work to get done before Monday. Saige had gotten a notification when Damien tweeted about his stream. She checked the time. Her podcast wasn't going to start filming for another hour and a half. And she definitely deserved a break. That's all she was doing, taking a break and supporting a friend. Definitely not just an excuse to see Damien's face again. When she clicked into the stream she saw Damien was playing a chill game she also played on her channel. She decided to send a quick message in the chat, without any intention of Damien actually seeing it, but more so she could tease him later about "ignoring" her.
Notsaige: love this game, such a great one to stream! Also 💙 pabby
There are actually one or two people in chat who recognize Saige and respond in chat.
Woah it's notsaige!
Wait no way are Damien and notsaige friends!?
Hi Saige!!
And whether it was her initial message or the handful of responses, Damien finally notices her in chat.
"Hey Saige! You play Ooblets too? That's awesome. Hey everyone, one of my oldest and dearest friends Notsaige is in the chat, she is also a twitch streamer and infinitely cooler than me so you should definitely check her out if you haven't yet. And also check out her second twitch channel for podcast and dnd stuff, it's PixelCircus, right?"
Saige's cheeks flush with pink and her heartbeat quickens. What an absolutely kind man.
Notsaige: yes! PixelCircus! Fun stuff there!
Notsaige: also, thanks for the s/o dames! completely unnecessary but appreciated!
After a couple seconds Damien replies to her again.
"Hey, you are an unbelievable talent my friend. Thanks so much for stopping by and saying hi Saige!"
Saige knows she will need to finish preparing for her own stream so she sends one more message before hopping off.
Notsaige: you are the sweetest bean my friend, take care! Have a good stream!
○○○
Courtney goes over her shot list for the music video she is working on. They are feeling good about the concept and excited to start filming this week. She sends off some notes to her team and moves from their desk to their bed, bringing the laptop with them. Courtney pulls up the show that Shayne is on and decides to watch the first episode tonight before bed. The show is a little soapy but also light and funny. Shayne's character is the 'best friend', 'comic relief', 'very dark backstory' one. He breaks the tension but doesn't kill the vibe when it is supposed to be a dramatic scene. Courtney can tell why Shayne landed the roll, he really gets into the character. Not in a weird, Jared Leto, way but in a way that it makes them forget this is a person she knows in real life. He is very smooth on screen, suave. Even when he is acting goofy it is still quite charming. They pause the episode at a part where he is on screen and take a photo with their face and the screen in it. They send it off to Shayne writing:
Does this count as us hanging out?
She continues the episode for the last few minutes and hears the ding of their text alert go off just after the episode finishes.
Wow, great photo of me and the 'new mystery person in my life' 😂☠🙃
Courtney rolls her eyes. If he was going to be sassy they could be sassy right back.
In your dreams shania😴😴
Courtney started doing her nighttime skin routine. They felt a buzz of anticipation waiting on Shayne's reply. They weren't getting their hopes up or anything, but they did get a flutter of excitement while talking to him and she was excited to see where that might lead. In all fairness, Shayne was also feeling quite giddy that Courtney had texted him. He was both flattered and anxious to see they had started watching his show. Obviously as an actor he knows people are going to watch him. With acting and watching things back he's been in, he has grown to not be TOO hypercritical of himself. And even when he is a bit regretful of a particular acting choice he still appreciates watching it back to see how the editors cut everything together. But for some reason, knowing Courtney is watching him feels extra vulnerable. Maybe because they are such new friends he doesn't want them forming opinions based on his character. Or maybe it's his very manageable, not at all a big deal crush on them. Who's to say? He decides to shake out his nerves and send something a little more bold.
Maybe... sounds like a nice dream
He sets his phone down. That was still innocent enough, right? Just because spending time with her would make a nice dream doesn't mean it was explicitly flirty. That's just a nice thing to say to a person. Yeah, friendly. Shayne, unable to convince himself of his own bs debates asking Damien's opinion. On one hand, it would help settle his thoughts. On the other, it opens him up to teasing. Damien may seem the sweet caring type, and he is, but his teasing can be relentless. In the midst of his internal debate Courtney texts back.
Well then maybe we'll have sweet dreams about each other... night :)
Shayne shakes his head. Yup, he is definitely going to need Damien's input on this one.
Sounds like a plan, night Courtney :)
He debated adding an lol in there but decided to forgo the subtext and just enjoy the moment for what it is. He checks twitch and sees Damien is just winding down his stream. He shoots off a text to inquire how tired Damien is after streaming. A minute or two after he signs off Damien shoots him a text back asking Shayne if he wants to talk about something. Shayne takes a screenshot the messages with Courtney with the caption:
Thoughts??
Damien sends back a string of emojis:
👀👀🤯🤯😱😱👫🏼👫🏼
A few moments later Damien is face timing him. Shayne takes a deep breath and answers.
"Um, at what point of me being away in Georgia did you learn how to flirt?"
Damien half-jokes.
"Hey!" Shayne feigns offense before accepting his friend's half-compliment, "thanks I tried. Okay but is it like a more mutually flirty vibe or a jokey friend vibe?"
"Okay well first of all, friends can be flirty-"
Shayne cuts him off.
"I am begging you to not end that sentence with anything about Saige."
Damien blushes and shakes his head.
"Focus Shayne. As I was saying, it could go either way, but I think it is definitely leaning flirty. And that is for both of you. You guys have a good banter, which is good."
Shayne nods in agreement.
"Yeah that is one thing I have really liked getting to know her this weekend, I feel like we are on the same wavelength."
Damien agreed. The boys talk for a bit longer about Damien's stream and a game plan for if Shayne's texts get a little flirty again.
"Don't say anything you don't mean, and don't say anything that would make them uncomfortable when we all hang out after."
Shayne chuckles.
"Oh we're all going to be hanging out a ton, are we?"
Damien purses his lips and replies to Shayne very matter-of-factly,
"Yes, I have determined the four of us are going to become very good friends so you need to be cognizant of that when you talk to them."
"And that decision is based purely on friendship vibes and not you wanting an opportunity to hang out one on one with Saige?"
Damien immediately looks away and pretends that the connection is bad by making very obviously fake static noises.
"Oh Shayne, looks like the connection is bad, crechhhhhh, I should let you go, crechhhhh, byeeee Shayne!"
And just like that Damien hangs up.
YOU ARE READING
where are they now? (shourtney/damaige)
FanfictionAU: Saige and Shayne are siblings who grew up as child actors. Along the way, Shayne met his best friend Damien and, in adulthood, Saige meets her roommate, Courtney. Now in their 20s and 30s, this story is about them navigating the world as four fo...
