Day 1 — The Marathon Begins The countdown on stream hit three seconds. Naomi adjusted her headset and side-eyed Agent, who was already talking to chat like he owned the place. “Don’t start,” she warned, half-laughing. “I can already hear the nonsense coming.” Agent grinned. “I’m just greeting the people. They came to see greatness.” “Yeah, mine.” She turned to the camera. “Chat, remember that when he starts lying in 4K.” Chat: “😭😭😭 SHE WASTED NO TIME” “Agent blink twice if you’re scared.” Agent leaned back in his chair. “You talk a lot for someone who begged me to do this stream.” Naomi raised a brow. “Begged? Please. I offered you a chance to be relevant for eight days. You’re welcome.” He laughed, shaking his head. “You’re insufferable.” “And you’re delusional,” she said sweetly, turning back to her monitor. “Perfect balance.” They loaded into their first game. Within minutes, Agent made a bad call and both of them got eliminated. Naomi slammed her controller down with a quiet thud. “See? That’s what happens when you don’t listen.” “I had it handled!” he protested. “You had it handled into defeat.” Chat: “💀💀💀 she’s ruthless” “Agent in shambles already and it’s hour 1.” He pointed at her screen. “You were supposed to cover left!” “I was covering the part of the map where you weren’t dying,” she said. “Didn’t realize I needed to babysit.” He laughed, trying not to smile too wide. “You always gotta have the last word, huh?” “Only when I’m right,” she said, then glanced at chat. “Which, statistically, is always.” They played a few more rounds, the rhythm settling into something familiar: him poking, her firing back, both of them grinning through the noise. The teasing never stopped, but it was easy—comfortable. When the first break screen popped up, Naomi leaned back and stretched. “See? Day one and I’ve already carried the team and the conversation. You owe me dinner after this.” Agent laughed. “You want food or an apology first?” “Apology,” she said. “Then food. In that order.” He shook his head, smiling. “Eight days of this is gonna be long.” She smirked. “You’ll survive. Probably.”