Page 14 of Mated on Live

“I’m sorry,” she giggled. “I don’t really know what to do. I mean, it’s like dating, but it’s not. And you’re so different. I guess I don’t know what to expect.”

He grinned. She was precious. Even if he hadn’t been told that she was his mate, he would have wanted to spend more time with her.

But, again, it just made him wonder how she was supposed to trigger him without olules.

“I suppose, we just try to act natural,” he suggested.

“Yeah. Right.” She gave him a grateful smile. “Shall we have a seat? I promised my viewers ten minutes of our initial meeting before we get some privacy.”

“They’re watching us live, aren’t they?” Serval’s gaze darted up to the camera. He was used to facing it whenever he was recording a segment. But he found himself unwilling to look away from the darling little human in front of him as she grabbed his box of sweets and led him to the couches.

She appeared accustomed to not looking at the camera, but still playing to it, as she made sure to fix her hair behind her ear so that the camera on that side could keep getting a good view of her. This wasn’t really what he expected from the recorded meeting between them. It seemed so casual and understated.

For that matter, what did she mean when she said her channel was themed around sweets? Did she cover food or something?

“Sit, please,” she smiled at him, patting the seat beside her. “I want to get your unfiltered, raw reaction to chocolate. I bet my sweeties will love that.”

“Sweeties?” He did as directed, sitting beside her, angling his body so that he faced her. She seemed somehow even smaller sitting down. But also even prettier. Sitting relaxed her belly, creating a cute little roll. It was adorable.

“My subscribers! That’s what they call themselves.” She began pulling at the plastic film that sealed the box closed. “Say, hi.”

“Hi? Like, speak directly to them?”

“Yeah.” She turned, wiggling her fingers at one of the cameras.

His gaze followed hers and he tried to think about all the people on the other end. Serval didn’t usually consider the people viewing his segments. He was more focused on the news itself. What kind of show was she putting on?

He mimicked her motion, waving at the cameras, earning a smile from her.

“Thanks for agreeing to do this. I know it means a lot to my viewers. I do a lot of recording in my daily life, but it won’t be constant. And if I’m recording, I’ll warn you beforehand.”

“What exactly is it that you record, Sophie?”

“Oh, a bit of this and that,” she shrugged, opening the box. “There are themes, of course. SophServe is the name of my channel. Like soft serve? The ice cream? It’s a sweet, but it’s also like my name, get it? I have a couple of long running segments. Trick or Treat is my most popular one. For that, I do something that is either really nice or really challenging. Like, one time, I recorded a ten thousand dollar spa package treatment. That was a treat. But then, for a trick video, I went sky diving. That was awful.” She shuddered but laughed. And an idea of what she did began to form in his mind – and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. “I also have a cooking segment called Spice of Life. I tend to make desserts and sweets, but I also do some regular cooking too. And then there’s my kind of variety segment. That’s called Kitchen Sink – and that one is pretty much a free for all. I usually get some kind of dessert or something else and I review it while we do everything. I’ve done reactions, challenges, Q&As. Sometimes, I just sit and talk. I do have videos that aren’t connected to any segments, of course. But those are the main draws of my channel.”

“You’re a one-person variety show,” he said, understanding.

“That’s a really good way to put it,” she beamed, excited. “They call me an influencer on Earth. Because I just talk to people, and I have their ears and trust. I’ve formed like a parasocial relationship with my fans. But I’ve always hated that term. It just sounds so gross. Like, influencer? I’m just out here influencing people to buy things or do things? I started this to have fun. To connect to people. If they like the products I promote, great! But I’m not here for that.”

Serval already knew that his mate did something on video. But he had imagined a career more similar to his own. Some kind of news presentation. Or maybe she was an actress.

But what she described was… odd.

“I’m not sure I understand completely,” he admitted.

“That’s okay.” She smiled at him. “It’s not hard. You’ll get the hang of it. I know my sweeties will want to meet you, see you a lot, but they’ll also understand if you’re not comfortable on camera.”

“Not comfortable?” Serval chuckled. “I’m an investigative journalist.”

“What?” Her jaw dropped, showing him the cute pink of her tongue. “No way! You, like, chase hard hitting stories and stuff?”

“Yes. That’s my job. I travel all over, hunting down the truth and outing criminals.

“That’s amazing!” She beamed. “So, I guess you’re okay being on camera?”

“It doesn’t bother me, no.”

“Great! Then, before the stream ends, let’s give the sweeties your first dessert reaction!”

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