🎧Put on your headphones and let me tell you a story xx🎀
The room smelled like cheap synthetic fibers and the buzzing heat of the ring light.
I stared into the mirror, carefully drawing tiny hearts in black eyeliner under my eyes.
There.
Perfect.
The wig was itchy and uncomfortable, but lavender performed better than my natural blonde. Blonde brought in girlfriend comments.
Lavender brought in degenerates with disposable income.
Plus it went well with my spotted purple puppy ears and my pastel striped thigh high socks.
Not that people on stream would see my socks.
Or would they?
Gotta get those tips somehow.
I went and placed my new Funko Pop figure at the back of my gaming room.
Could do a little unboxing. Do a little bending over. Watch the cash roll in.
I walked back and adjusted the camera until my waist looked smaller.
Not thinner. Smaller. It was important to look small. Childlike, almost.
While still promising absolute filth.
I had a table full of faux animal ears of all sorts. So far the puppy ears had performed best. I was considering making it my brand.
My handle was PrettyxRabid. So it worked.
Naughty puppy.
I leaned towards the camera, making my eyes bigger. I panted softly, tongue out tantalizingly, and bounced up and down in my chair like an overexcited dog.
Oh yeah. They'd go nuts for that one. Throw in a couple ahegao videos on TikTok and a link to my OnlyFans and I'd be able to get that new streaming rig in no time.
I queued up Twitch and Discord.
Then a brilliant idea struck.
“Buy Me A Collar”
Highest donor got to choose my collar and I would wear it for them on stream.
You know, until the next bidding war.
I could be their very own puppy.
Yes, this was genius.
A notification on Discord.
hey princess, stream starting soon?
UwU yeah soon xx
wearing the purple puppy ears?
Ofc! RAWR XD xx
not sure I'll be able to make the whole stream
(˶ -᷅⤙ -᷄ ˶) not cool, princess misses wisses you already xx
ok, ok, I'll go in late to my meeting
*wags tail*
Boom. Got him.
He'd be tipping mama good tonight.
Attention-starved. Mid-thirties. Lonely enough to spend.
Divorced. I'd had to listen to the whole sob story.
But he was a good contender for Buy Me A Collar.
OwO baby u wanna buy me a collar? you could own me like a good puppy. I'd like that :3
oh fuck yeah
okies teehee gotta buy me on stream xx
I booted up Dead by Daylight. Planned to play for a bit with a few other popular streamers and then switch to Just Chatting to pitch the collar idea.
I made up some quick graphics for it. Had to look professional.
I was playing Ghost Face.
I liked it. Strategy. Stealth. Patience.
Creating a false sense of security.
And then taking them down, one by one.
UwU, bitches.
When we were done gaming my battered opponents sulked a bit, but we had a good time. Bunnybrat and kittencryptidxx were two of my besties on Twitch. We raided each other all the time.
I blew them kisses goodbye and switched back to Just Chatting.
Time for the real work to begin.
“Rawr!” I winked playfully and clawed at the air with my pastel acrylic claws. I stuck my tongue out.
“Hi chat. How's it going? What's everybody doing tonight?”
I chose a few comments to respond to.
There was a strategy to this as well. You had to make getting “noticed” a commodity.
I noticed the guy from earlier in chat.
“Oh hi, Steve! Glad you made it!”
I wrinkled my nose cutely in appreciation.
I leaned back in my gaming chair, raising up one knee so my thigh high socks showed clearly.
“So guys, I had this fun idea! I've been thinking… maybe it's time to go full puppy girl! It seems to be everyone's favorite. What do you all think?”
The chat replies rolled in faster than I could read them. Between the rolling rainbow colors of all my RGB equipment and the rapid scroll I actually found myself feeling a little dizzy.
“Woah, hey! Got it! You love it. Pretty Rabid Puppy it is! UwU!”
“Now, to celebrate, I had a great idea. Dis wittle pupper needs a collar, and a Master…”
I put on my very best submissive puppy eyes and scratched at my floppy purple ear earnestly.
“So whoever tips the most tonight will get to Buy Me A Collar!”
I grinned.
Bounced.
Barked softly.
The money started rolling in.
That was my cue.
I stood up to go grab my new Funko Pop, lingering just long enough to give the camera a good view.
“I got Jason!” I squealed, bringing over the box and showing the camera the giant-headed figure of Jason Vorhees.
“It's gonna go so well with the others!”
I had a whole collection of horror villain Funko Pops. I had also decorated my game room in glittery, pink grim reapers.
They were just so cute. OwO.
In the end, Steve didn't get to buy me a collar. Not for lack of trying. He spent ten grand.
But a dark horse bidder won the day. And access to my DMs.
GrayWolf78
He was new here, I think.
UwU thx for the donation rawr xx!
You're welcome, princess. Anything for my little Rabi.
hehe rabi that's cuuuuuute xx
Good girl. Now, let's get you your collar.
It arrived in the mail the next day.
It was lavender, with cute pastel embossing in the leather in the shape of dog bones and bowls. I paused for a moment when I realized it had a choke-chain.
Ah well. Kinky fuck.
I put it on, and sent him a pic.
Mmmm. It looks good on you, baby. On stream today, wear your little purple skater dress that matches.
And no panties.
Be a good girl and I'll give you a treat.
For a moment I almost pushed back on him. He was too forward.
But then I remembered the 20 grand, and bit my tongue.
ofc baby xx
I did as I was bid. And he made good. My bank account had never been so full. I chafed a bit at being instructed on everything I did but the opportunity was too good to pass up.
He didn't actually ask for anything lewd—no nudes, no sexting. Not even feet pics. Just dictating my appearance.
GrayWolf78 was an interesting character. He spoke so formally, always with perfect grammar.
A control freak.
He noticed everything.
It was like he had an inventory of my whole gaming room.
Rabi baby, how about you wear that little cheerleader outfit I know you've been hiding?
Wait, what?
I'd been cheer captain in high school. Did he know that? Or was it a lucky guess?
OwO I don't have a cheer outfit but you could buy me one xx
Yes you do, Rabi. Don’t lie to me.
Unease crept over me. This didn't feel right.
I closed my laptop. I needed a minute.
I took off the wig. The collar.
I went to the bathroom and took off the makeup and stared into my face—my real face.
The one who had been cheer captain.
The one who decided streaming was a better career choice than college.
This was the first time I found myself doubting that decision.
I was objectively pretty. Fresh-faced, young, girl-next-door.
But PrettyxRabid was a whole different beast. A sexy clown. A doll invented to please the masses.
I would take a hiatus. For my “mental health”. It would hurt, financially, but it wouldn't last too long. Maybe GrayWolf would move on.
I heard a knock at the door. I jumped.
This was insane. There was nothing to be afraid of.
Right?
Amazon.
A package.
I brought it in and set it on the counter, just staring at it for a time.
I hadn't ordered anything.
When I couldn't take the suspense any longer, I opened it.
It was a mug, with a picture of my high school cheer team printed on it.
“Class of 2009”
My stomach sank.
There was a note inside, printed on the receipt slip.
I said not to lie to me, Rabi.
I dropped the mug. It fell to the floor and shattered.
Shit.
I was barefoot.
What was happening to me?
I took a few deep breaths, trying to steady my swimming vision and racing heart.
It was just a prank, right?
Maybe an old school friend, trying to freak me out.
But then… what about all the money?
I carefully cleared a path of ceramic shards and went to lie down on my bed. I needed to think.
My mind raced. My body quaked. This couldn't be happening.
No.
No, I wouldn't let it.
How dare he try to frighten me? How dare he try to control me?
Rage bubbled in my chest.
A weak voice in the back of my mind said, “You offered him control. You offered it for money.”
Well then I would return the money, damn it.
Oh. Well.
I had already spent a lot of it.
Shit.
Still, that wasn't okay. Stalking wasn't okay.
I needed to learn more about GrayWolf78. I needed to even the playing field.
Yes. That was it. That was what I would do.
My phone buzzed.
It was a Discord notification. From him.
You're missing your stream, Rabi. Did something upset you?
I shuddered. But I'd be damned if I gave him the satisfaction.
hehe no baby x just was feeling sicky wickies, gonna stream later UwU
Good. I'm glad you're okay. Let me know if you need anything, princess.
I signed out of Discord. I opened up an incognito browser and searched GrayWolf78.
People didn't realize it, but screen names were like breadcrumbs that led back to shed selves. If someone knew how to look.
There wasn't much there.
I dug deeper.
Yes.
An old LiveJournal. This could be good.
My God there were a lot of entries.
I went back to the beginning, hoping to find something identifying. It was mostly awkward poetry and emo musings about popularity and lack thereof.
He mentioned a girl. How she never noticed him.
Oh—Hell yes. A photo. It was shadowed. His bangs hung over his face and were dark blue.
I almost recognized him. Though he could have been any kid from that era.
I downloaded the photo. For later.
And finally, a gold mine.
Green Valley High is absolutely miserable. I can't wait to graduate and get out of here.
My high school.
Bingo.
I pulled out my yearbooks and put his picture up on my screen.
Evan Dawson.
I truly didn't remember him.
There were even group shots we were in together.
I felt a little awkward about it, but decided it was better to focus on my rage.
He had stalked me. He had tried to humiliate me.
Well, I had helped him a bit with the second one.
I pulled up his Facebook and LinkedIn. The wonders of modern technology.
Oh wow, he looked good. He’d filled out, his hair was its natural dark brown. He was cute now.
He'd made his fortune with an internet start-up. That explained the money.
Honestly, if he hadn't acted like such a creep, he was the kind of guy I could have fallen for.
I assumed he was some basement-dweller incel.
Still, he clearly had an axe to grind with me.
It was time to send a message.
I found his work address.
I found a collar that suited him. Expensive brown leather, with a silver loop.
The note in the box said:
Good boys don't stalk girls on the internet.
xoxo
Rabi
I waited for a response. I felt better. More in control. He had scared me.
But he was just a boy. And boys were easy.
He didn't show up for my stream that night.
Good. Maybe I had scared him off.
I felt a strange twinge of regret, but shrugged it off.
The next day I got a message.
Thank you for the gift, Rabi.
You're welcome, Evan. UwU.
I replied with proper grammar. You know, to prove a point or something.
Ah, Rachel. You figured it out.
I paused. That wasn't the reaction I expected.
Evan was far more interesting than I had given him credit for.
He seemed to agree, as he continued:
You know, there always was something about you. Something different. Kindred.
Not that you ever noticed.
I found myself almost wishing I remembered anything about him from school. But in my memory he was just a shadow in the corner, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
Kindred.
No… we weren't the same.
Or… were we?
Well then, Evan. Where do we go from here?
A pause. Then his response.
Dinner?
Bold.
I paused.
Ramen. On Fourth Street. At six.
Great choice, Rachel. I'll be there.
Six Months Later
The new studio space was gorgeous. Vibrant white and filled with every high-tech streaming apparatus you could wish for.
“This one today, I think,” Evan brought over a pastel pink mini dress and a matching long wig with bangs.
I wrinkled my nose, “Are you sure? They seem to really love the lavender.”
He kissed the tip of my nose.
“Trust me, baby. This is a money maker.”
I did trust him. Ever since I'd taken him on as my manager we'd been making money hand over fist. He was shrewd, and in some ways he understood the audience even better than I did.
He went back over to his gaming rig in the corner—the only part of the room that wasn't white and pastel. It was all black with glowing RGB. He put on his headphones and went back to playing The Witcher 3.
I put on the pink wig and the puppy ears that looked a bit like neapolitan ice cream.
I drew my eyeliner on with precision.
I straightened my collar.
That night I streamed to thirty thousand viewers.
I played games.
Evan watched the numbers.
He handled the bank accounts and the taxes.
Together we made a small fortune.
Afterwards, we went out for ramen.
The place on Fourth Street was still there.
Some things never change.
Ohhh I wasn't expecting that ending! I actually loved it
Well hey. Two is company?