"-got on Amazon. Honestly, it's the best purchase I've ever made," a female voice spoke.

"Hello!" I said.

"Ask him!" a different female voice said.

Neither one came from Patchy Robin, the stylish person with short green hair, green face mask, and large round glasses dressed in a slightly oversized black hoodie whose camera I assumed rested atop their monitor based on the angle. Bright green studs stippled their left ear, the color matching that of their hair and mask. Deafened and muted, they seemed to be preoccupied with something in another tab.

"Ask me what?" I replied, my eyes still admiring the outfit. They were the most interesting thing to look at in that moment, sure, but something else that I couldn't explain had drawn my attention to this person and wouldn't release it.

"Do you have any stuffies?" The first voice, Squishy Squid, asked.

"Uh… Like stuffed animals?" I replied.

"Yeah!" Came the second voice, Velvetbear, "Or, like, anything stuffed even."

"Um… I think so?" I answered, unsure. "I think I have a few from when I was a little kid crammed into my closet somewhere."

"Sacrilege!" Squishy Squid gasped overdramatically.

I chuckled, "Why sacrilege?"

"Because stuffies are supposed to be sleeping with you in your bed," Velvetbear said.

"Oh, you're right," I replied with a wide smile, "And we're supposed to be having tea parties too."

My tone wasn't condescending or patronizing like an adult would be with a child, nor was it sarcastic. It was earnest, like a carefree chat with a close friend. Velvetbear had made a valid point.

"Exactly!" Squishy Squid replied with a clap.

I chuckled again, "I'll get right on that."

"Yeah, go get them out of your closet! Let them breathe!" Squishy Squid encouraged.

"What kind of stuffies do you have?" Asked Velvetbear, the question sounding unexpectedly sincere.

"Oh, uh…" I replied, a little caught off guard, "Let me go dig them out for you! I'll just post some pictures in the chat."

Velvetbear cheered, "Yay!"

I removed my headset and rolled back in my chair a few feet. I debated with myself on whether or not to roll the rest of the way over to the closet, but decided it would be better for me to just get up. I had to use the bathroom anyway, so I reasoned two birds with one stone.

I left my room and returned a few minutes later with an empty bladder and a glass of water, (so it was more like three birds). A glance at my monitor revealed that Patchy Robin had returned to the chat, the green box that surrounded their webcam feed blinking in and out every few seconds and the icons that indicated mute and deafen had disappeared.

I took a sip of my water, then placed it on my desk, never once removing my gaze from the green-haired chat member.

The amount of consideration and effort that they put into their appearance was extremely evident and even admirable. "Beautiful" was the word that floated to the surface of my mind. Like an illustration come to life or a thoughtfully-designed video game character.

I tore my gaze away and went to my closet. It took a few minutes of sifting through old Nerf guns, Lego buckets, and other miscellaneous toys before I located my old stuffed animals.

They were caked in a thin layer of lint and dust: a monkey, a tiger, a frog, and a turtle. They were each similarly sized too. Small, but not palm-of-your-hand-small. Simply seeing them again gave me an undiluted dose of nostalgia and I just stared at them for a few moments. I vividly recalled the monkey, Albert, being my favorite, his hands and feet had Velcro patches that I used to make him hug just about everything (including myself).

I began mindlessly picking the dust and lint off of Abert before remembering why I had dug him out in the first place and stopped. 

"Right. Pictures," I thought aloud.

I grabbed my phone, opened the camera, and took a photo of Albert. Then a thought crossed my mind: posing them would be way cuter. 

I wrapped Albert's arms around my chair so that he hung from the headrest and snapped the picture. In a weird way the accumulated dust made him even cuter, his wide smile and small black eyes made him appear more childlike. Akin to a scrappy kid who had spent an afternoon playing in the junkyard-like Pig-Pen from Peanuts.

"Quite charming, you are," I remarked as I patted his head and doing my best British accent.

I decided to leave Albert hanging as I continued to take the other pictures. 

The tiger, whose name had completely escaped me, was positioned on the edge of my desk, it's open mouth exposing cute stuffed teeth. I remembered it having translucent plastic whiskers but for some reason my mom had decided to cut them off. Perhaps it was so that I wouldn't poke my eye or get them in my nose while I slept. Maybe it was so that I wouldn't put them in my mouth. After adjusting the focus and snapping the picture, I moved on.

For the turtle and frog (whom I recall creatively naming Mr. Turtle and Mr. Frog respectively) I decided to take a picture of them together. Mr. Frog, a dark yellow with three blue spots on the rear left leg, sat atop Mr. Turtle's dark green shell. Mr. Turtle rested on my RGB keyboard, his derpy expression only being surpassed by the derpier, bug-eyed Mr. Frog's. I took the picture and snorted a little. They looked so stupid in the cutest way possible.

With the photos taken I returned to my chair and sent them in the text channel with my phone, along with the names of the ones I could remember. I then put my phone back on my desk and returned my attention to my monitor as I put my headphones back on.

"-couldn't find the ones with the square frames, so I just decided to wear my usual ones," Patchy Robin said.

The voice was feminine-one I recognized. But where did I know it from?

“They still look really nice! I have a pair that have a blue tint that I got from my grandma for Christmas. I wore them for like, a month straight any time I left the house,” Squishy Squid said.

“I feel that!” Replied Patchy Robin, “I got these from one of my friends. I don’t know how, but they look good with every outfit I’ve ever worn. I wish the lenses were a bit bigger though.”

Where did I know that voice from?

“The lenses aren’t real, are they?” Asked Velvetbear.

“I wish, then I wouldn’t have to wear these dumb contacts.”

“Oh, I hate contacts! I used to wear them all the time when my glasses broke. I’m never going back again.”

“Right?”

It couldn’t be. Was it really her?

I right-clicked on Patchy Robin's webcam feed and clicked “message”.

Hey, this is applejam64 from the chat. Did you by any chance go to Oak Hills High School?

A response came a few moments later.

ye who is this?

I gasped a little and a smile formed on my face. I replied,

I knew it was you! It’s me! Ben!

Erica’s response came only a second later.

holy shit! 😯

“Oh my god! applejam64 just messaged me! I know him from high school!” Erica exclaimed to the other two in the chat.

“Hey,” I said, “I’m back.”

“No way! That’s awesome!” said Squishy Squid.

“I posted the pictures of my plushies in the text channel along with their names. I couldn’t remember the tiger’s name.”

“Yay!” Velvetbear exclaimed, clapping a few times.

“You guys just found each other again? Just now?” Squishy Squid asked.

“Yeah!” I said with a chuckle.

“They're so cute! And you even posed them!” Squealed Velvetbear.

“Albert was my favorite as a kid,” I replied.

“Oh my god-” Erica said, “I’m sorry guys, I need to steal him from you. applejam, we need to catch up!”

“Oh,” I said, my heart jumping for some reason, “Okay.”

“Aww!” Velvetbear pouted, “Apple, I’m sending you a friend request. You better accept it!”

“Me too!” Squishy Squid chimed in.

“You got it,” I replied to the two, an anxious feeling beginning to grow.

That anxious feeling made my heart jump again upon Erica’s sing-songy farewell, “See ya later, guys!”

Now there was a knot in my stomach. Why was there a knot in my stomach? And why was I getting colder?

Erica left the call.

“I guess I’m going too,” I chuckled, “That was some whiplash… It was nice mee-”

An incoming call window popped up accompanied by the familiar Discord call jingle.

“-ting you guys,” I finished over the jingle.

“You too!” the two said one after another.

I clicked the join call button and was now in a private call with Erica.