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the studio smelled faintly of coffee and the faint electronics buzz of cameras, lights, and recording equipment. y/n sat on the couch, knees tucked under their arms, glancing at simon as he adjusted the camera. it was one of those days where filming felt oddly intimate, even with the ring of lights and the red record button blinking.
"okay," simon said, checking the setup one last time. "we are live, and hopefully not cursed by the internet today."
y/n laughed softly. "we will survive. i promise."
he shot them a grin, the familiar cheeky grin that somehow always made y/n's stomach flip. "you say that every time. and every time, the chat manages to get a little chaotic. today will be no exception."
y/n rolled their eyes playfully. "you mean our fans are excited, not chaotic."
"sure, let's call it excited," simon said, picking up the stack of questions he had carefully curated. "so we have some q&a prepared. nothing too crazy, i made sure of it. i know the last few weeks have been... fun on twitter."
y/n nodded. "yeah. lots of love, lots of hate. balance, i guess."
he chuckled, shaking his head. "side note, i still cannot believe some people think i am single-handedly responsible for global warming. they get creative."
y/n laughed, brushing a loose strand of hair behind their ear. "yeah, the internet has a lot of opinions."
"true," he said, finally looking down at the first question. "okay. first one, from emma: 'how did you guys meet?'" he paused, scanning the question once more before looking at y/n, then the camera. "do you want to start, or shall i?" he asked, grin teasing, the kind that always made y/n feel like they were about to be roped into one of his jokes.
y/n exhaled, trying to appear composed. "i can start," they said. "it is not that dramatic. really."
"drama sells," simon said with a wink at the camera.
y/n rolled their eyes, but their lips curved into a smile. "well... we met at a mutual friend's dinner party. i had just moved to london, a bit awkward, and simon was there being his usual obnoxiously charming self."
he mock-gasped. "obnoxiously charming? rude. i would say charismatic."
"same difference," y/n shot back with a grin.
simon laughed, shaking his head. "alright, go on, tell them what happened next."
y/n glanced at him, momentarily caught in his eyes, before returning to the camera. "so, i tripped over the carpet. completely ridiculous, almost face-planted in front of everyone. simon... instead of laughing, actually caught me."
simon smirked, leaning closer. "true, true. i did. heroic move. they all applauded, obviously. you should have seen their faces."
y/n laughed softly. "yeah, it was dramatic. but he caught me, and we started talking. conversation flowed really easily after that. we realized we had a lot in common. and... well, it just kind of went from there."
