If Someone Were To See Us

“Are you sure two weeks isn’t too short?” dropsgum said to me for what felt like the tenth time. As badly as I wanted to judge her anxiety, the fact that I moved the deadline nearly a hundred times before we’d even drafted the advertisement betrayed my nerves.

Rather than be at my PC, I paced around the stores a few blocks away from our house. I was lucky no one reported me for loitering in the area, but there was no way my stuffy room wouldn’t just exacerbate all the worry buried in me! It was like ivy as it clung to every part of my conscious and left me with no room to breathe. I had my headphones on at least, so none of the pedestrians that passed by me could hear her.

While the two of us talked each other down from our worries, rainDrips was calm and at work—figured, since not only was he not involved in the deeper aspects of the RP’s creation, but he’s also done this a million times before. I wanted nothing more than to sap all that confidence and experience in his body and transplant it into my own.

“I think it’s fine,” I said. “Maybe—I don’t know. Should we ask rain to change it?”

“If we did, he might quit on the spot,” she said and laughed. “As much as I wished we still had the choice, maybe it’s better this way.”

“Maybe,” I agreed quietly, but saying that only made the feeling worse. I pulled the chat back up and began to type.

TowersFall: you done yet
rainDrips: Almost, actually. I should be done within the minute, I’m just looking it over for any typos or inconsistencies.
rainDrips: I cut down on the summary you gave me to improve readability. Trust me, we have all that information on the site for a reason, so I just broke it down to a quick setting blurb and guidelines.
dropsgum: Are you sure that’s a good idea??? What if we don’t stand out?
rainDrips: You’re both worrying too much.
rainDrips: Worst case, I have friends in other RP spheres of the internet that prefer to gravitate towards moderators they know already. If I tell them of my involvement, they’ll be willing to give this place a shot, even if they’re not familiar with Eclipse.
TowersFall: cant imagine how u can use anything else
TowersFall: besides id rather get familiar ppl, relying on you to bring in strangers feels like trying to convince your parents to watch your band perform cause it fills out the audience
dropsgum: Omg…when you say it like that rain almost seems like hes hyperaging the longer he talks to us, huh?
rainDrips: I am not that old. How many times do we need to have this discussion? *sigh*
TowersFall: he even sighs like an old man
rainDrips: You know, I could delete this advertisement and leave the chat right now.
dropsgum: But you love us both too much ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶
dropsgum: Anyways if you’re done then hurry post it post it!! Most people are online now so we gotta take advantage of it!!!

Rain didn’t need any further cue. With bated breath, the two of us watched as a new notification appeared in the Open Group RP channel for Survival Game RPers United.

“It’s up!” dropsgum cheered, and I had to resist the urge to celebrate in public with her. Maybe it wasn’t a big deal to a lot of people, especially those who’ve done this far too many times, but damn it, let me bask in the moment! We made this RP together, and now we’ll have more people to play in the detailed, wonderful world we created!

Truly, is there no brighter joy in life than this?

“When do you think we’ll get our first app?” she said. “Oh, I can’t wait! I’m gonna go reward myself with some cake.”

“Watch out, or you’ll be half-made of sugar before you know it,” I said.

“Hey, be sensitive! Hmph.”

She hung up, though I could tell from her tone that she wasn’t angry. There wasn’t much that bothered her, though from experience, I knew that was a double-edged sword. Still, we’ve gotten good at being honest with one another, so it hasn’t caused any problems since our small spat a while back.

Now that the jitters were gone, I began to walk back home. I noticed rainDrips was typing in the chat, so I kept an eye on it with my fingers at the ready.

rainDrips: Now, I know you two are excited, but may I leave a small warning?
TowersFall: something wrong?
rainDrips: I’m quite fine. It’s just something to advise you two on over the next few weeks.
rainDrips: I’ve moderated a number of RPs in this community. Though it’s a wonderfully active one, for newbie mods such as yourself, I’ll estimate that this first batch will bring in only about three to four applications.

…

Excuse me?

TowersFall: what the hell are you talking about?
TowersFall: most RPs im in get like a couple dozen at the least
rainDrips: That’s because the ones that people join are the most presentable ones. The admins and moderators have extensive history and know how to make a unique RP that appeals to people. While I think that the two of you have a wonderful concept on your hands, you may struggle to pull in interest from those that don’t know or trust you.
rainDrips: You can assume that of everyone that takes verbal interest, only a third at best will want to commit. With so many RPs being advertised a day, it’s an unfortunate reality.
rainDrips: A part of me worried that what you had may be too high concept to garner significant interest, but I may be wrong. Regardless, I would like to ask the both of you to keep my offer in mind.
rainDrips: I don’t want to see this fail. I believe in the both of you.
rainDrips: Sorry—I need to go make dinner. I’ll check back later.

At those words, he went offline. I stared at my phone, standing dumbstruck outside my house.

No—we didn’t put in all that work for nothing. I was sure of that. He was wrong, he had to be…

Right?

With my hope burning, all I could do was wish that dropsgum’s belief stayed as bright as mine.