She’d gone viral. At least by her modest standards. Hundreds of people had commented on her photo, with more chiming in by the second. She couldn’t read her notifications fast enough, and some of them she didn’t want to read at all.
She’d known how certain swaths of theGods of the Gatesfandom acted. She wasn’t surprised to find, scattered among admiring and supportive responses, a few ugly threads.
Looks like she ate Laviniaseemed to be the most popular among those tweets.
Itstung, of course. But no stranger on the internet could truly hurt her. Not the same way family and friends and coworkers could.
Still, she didn’t intend to inflict that sort of harm on herself longer than necessary. It might take time, but she needed to wrestle her mentions into submission.
But... Jesus. Where had all these peoplecomefrom?
Blocking all the haters in one particular thread took a while, as did muting—at least for the moment—certain key livestock- and zoo animal–related words.
By the time she finished, she had dozens more notifications. These seemed friendlier, for the most part, but she didn’t plan to tackle them until the morning.
Until she noticed one at the very top, received seconds before.
The account boasted a bright blue bubble with a check inside. An official, verified account, then.
Marcus Caster-Rupp’s account.
The guy playing Aeneas—fuckingAeneas—had tweeted to her. Followed her.
And... he appeared to have—
No, that couldn’t be right. She was hallucinating.
She squinted. Blinked. Read it again. A third time.
For reasons yet unknown, he appeared to have—
Well, he appeared to have asked her out. On a date.
“I read a fic like this once,” she whispered.
Then she clicked on the thread to find out what the fuck had just happened.
LavineasServer DMs, Two Years Ago
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:I saw that you wanted a beta reader for your fics? I know we don’t write the same types of stories, but if you’re willing to beta my fics too, I’d be interested.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:Hi, ULS. Thanks for writing.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:I figure it might be good to get a different perspective on my work, so—to me, anyway—our different styles are a bonus, not a drawback. I’d love your help with my fics, and I’m more than willing to beta your stories too.
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:Oh, yay!
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:My first suggestion: using the tag “misery ahoy!” so your hapless readers don’t inadvertently end up running through a year’s supply of tissues in one story. [clears throat] [blows nose] [stares meaningfully at you]
Book!AeneasWouldNever:Sorry about that?
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:The good news: the tissue industry is saved!
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:The other good news: your writing had such an emotional punch, I managed to refill several dwindling saltwater reservoirs.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:That’s good?
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:That’s good.
