CONTENT WARNING: Body negative image triggers and implied work abuse

Kai had always been extremely shy for an alpha. She was soft-spoken and didn't like to attract a lot of attention. She was also not as fit as an alpha should've been. The media was filled with fit and athletic female alphas but Kai... She was softer than most. She was still strong, able to lift on whatever she needed to. Which was helpful on her parents' farm. But she was a big gal, her mama said it was because of her Viking ancestry she was like this. Kai didn't know about that. All she knew was no one liked a chubby alpha.

She had tried dating, most omegas or betas didn't believe her when she said she was an alpha. Others laughed at the very idea because while female alphas were getting more representation in media. Everyone still wanted them to be fit and look like they were able to protect. So Kai just sort of cut herself off. Animals were better than people anyway, so she spent her days after high school helping with the farm as she always did. Looking for something to do in her spare time, however, she got into online gaming.

She loved fantasy games, her favorite animal growing up was unicorns and she had consumed whatever media she could find with a unicorn on it. She had no idea why she was so obsessed with the mythical animal but something about it... So it was only natural that when Kai was given the opportunity to run a virtual kingdom that she would put a unicorn on her flag. Just for fun, she made it bright pink, which made her happy. Many people were sure she was an omega decorating her castle in pastels and soft colors. But Kai just liked soft things, she liked cute things as well. Something that most alphas didn't have the guts to admit.

Her username online was Pastel Empress. She ran around in pink clothes and all of her pieces of equipment and mounts matched. Even the NPCs in her kingdom matched as well. She had her kingdom set on the furthest reaches of the map to be left alone and leveled her character up to max. The game was just something silly that Kai enjoyed and she hadn't expected to get as popular as she did. But she did, she had accidentally helped a streamer who was trying to stream their attempts on a boss fight.

She had miss clicked and ended up joining working as a tank. The streamer was able to heal and beat the boss. From there, things took off and people started approaching her. Most of them asking for help with story stuff or boss fights. Kai spoke to them through text chat which some of them were surprised by but most people were nice enough not to ask why. Which was a relief because Kai didn't want anyone to hear her voice. For fear that they would find out who she was somehow and this brief stint of popularity would just fall apart. It was a silly fear. But emotions don't care about logic.

But despite not responding on the mic she was friendly and nice to most everyone. But she refused to add anyone to her friends' list. She didn't want them teleporting to her castle. That was her safe space in the game and she didn't want it to be bothered. She even went as far as setting it up so when someone did find her castle they couldn't walk in because it would disappear by using a rare item. On top of that, she had spent actual money moving it from in the middle of a field on the edge of the map to the top of the tallest mountain in the game. She felt foolish spending real-world money on something virtual but her privacy was important. Also the light shade of pink looked amazing in the snow. Kai even planted cherry trees outside of her castle to give it that extra zing of sorts.

But as much as she loved the game it didn't consume her life. Most days she was too tired to even log on. But Fridays... Fridays were when she could play as much as she wanted. Logging in on a Friday she did her dailies for her castle. She then walked out of the castle to find a new player standing there. Yellowtail was his name. Kai tilted her head not knowing how this guy ended up here being a new player so she typed in chat. "Hello Yellowtail." His character model turned around and faced her. He must be playing in first person. "Where did you come from?!" He exclaimed in the chat.

Kai then realized that he couldn't see the castle, only the cherry trees. "I just logged in, I saved here last time I was here." Kai wasn't lying, she just didn't tell him everything. "Oh. Why are there cherry trees here?" He asked running up to one. "I put them here. It looks nice doesn't it?" Kai responded. "Yeah." He replied. "How did you get up here at level one?" Kai asked, most people didn't make it up the mountain until level thirty. Yellowtail was silent before responding, "I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure. I was doing a quest and got launched here by a glitch." He replied.

Kai laughed, "Was it the giant mini-boss?" She asked, "Yeah he grabbed me and threw me!" Yellowtail exclaimed using an emote to boot. Kai responded by using her own laughing emote. "Yeah, that gets new players every time. It'll pick a random spot on the map and throw you. You just happened to end up here." Kai explained. "Oh wow! So how do I get down?" Yellowtail asked, "Well you'd probably end up dying from the monsters here. You need to be at least level thirty to survive the climb. So you'd be better off jumping off the side and respawning in commons." Kai explained, Yellowtail used the droopy emote, "But I just got a weapon!" He complained. It did take a while to get your first weapon in the game. Feeling bad Kai began to type. "I'm pretty high level, I can escort you down if you'd like." Kai offered.

"Really? You would?!" Yellowtail exclaimed, "Sure, let me add you to my party." Kai said before clicking around. Then she added Yellowtail to her party. She shared some basic armor that she had enchanted with a ton of buffs to level up her blacksmithing skill. "Use this so you don't die on first hits." She told him, Yellowtail equipped everything she gave him and they spent the next hour climbing down the mountain. Normally it would've taken Kai just a few minutes. But Yellowtail kept accidentally aggroing all the enemies. But despite that, she had fun. He was so responsive in chat and he made her laugh.

Once they made it to the bottom of the mountain Kai actually felt a little sad about separating from Yellowtail. So she offered to continue to help him for the rest of the night. They talked and chatted as they went through dungeons and Yellowtail leveled up rapidly. By the end of the night, he was level thirty. "It's getting late so I should head to bed." Kai wrote in the chat, "Me too! I can't believe I played all day! But I had a lot of fun Empress!" Kai smiled and she waited for him to ask to add her to his friends' list but the question never came. "Is it alright if I keep you in my party?" Yellowtail asked, "Sure, I don't see any problem with that." Kai replied party members didn't have as much access as friends. So there was no worry about him teleporting to her castle. "I'll be logging back in next week this time!" Kai explained, "Gotcha! See you then!" "See you!"

Kai smiled as she headed off to bed, feeling happy to have met such a nice person. He seemed so cheerful and sweet. But in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder when it was he was going to turn heel on her as some people did in the game. But it didn't happen. As the weeks went on Kai and Yellowtail got closer and he leveled up fairly high. He even did some gaming on his own hoping to match Kai in level. He told her that he wanted to do the big boss fights with her when he got a high enough level. Yellowtail seemed to have decided to specialize in being a healer. Especially with Kai usually running tank. It was actually helpful to have the assistance on the sidelines.

Before long Yellowtail hit max. Kai was sure for a brief moment he'd ghost her but he didn't. He also never mentioned her being well known in the game. Even when they were invited to streamer parties. Of course, Yellowtail mentioned that he didn't normally play video games. So he probably thought this was normal. At a certain point, Yellowtail ended up earning the title 'Pastel knight' from the game devs after appearing with Kai so much.

They, of course, asked her first in a dm. Which Kai asked Yellowtail if it was okay. He said of course and thought it was hilarious. So as a running joke the streamers always referred to Yellowtail as Sir Yellowtail of the Rainbow order. Which made Kai laugh. The fandom of the game seemed to love making lore about her because no one had ever seen her castle. After about a year of knowing Yellowtail, Kai decided to ask if he wanted to be added to her friend's list. He responded with an all-caps 'YES' but quickly added in lower case 'if you're okay with it.'

So for the first time since Kai had started playing the game. She had made a friend. Yellowtail did visit her castle after getting permission first. Due to being her friend he was able to see the castle at the top of the mountain and freaked out saying. "SO THAT'S WHY THERE'S CHERRY TREES!" Kai laughed and apologized for being dishonest. She explained to him that sometimes people will grief others by messing with their castle. So she had it hidden. Yellowtail said he understood and forgave her. A bit dramatic but still forgiveness was forgiveness.

Another year passed and Kai actually ended up moving off the farm. She moved into the city after getting a deal with the gaming company to write missions based on her character after winning a tournament. She sort of became a community ambassador and the face of the game. Emerald City was a little big for her, but she didn't mind it so much. It was actually kind of nice being able to hide among the masses of people. Kai and Yellowtail also ended up adding each other on a chatting app so they could text each other throughout the day.

Kai liked showing off her apartment and her rooftop garden. Yellowtail always liked showing off his clothes and poodle who was named Vivi. Yellowtail actually dressed super nice and was extremely fashionable. Something that Kai was a little jealous of. She would joke about how her wardrobe only consisted of flannel. Yellowtail told her he was sure it was cute. Always seeming like he was hoping for a picture. Though never directly saying it. But Kai never had the courage to show off any of her outfits because then she was sure he wouldn't want anything to do with her anymore.

While Kai never saw his face, she was sure that Yellowtail was extremely attractive from the rest of his body when he modeled his outfits. While she never asked what dynamic he was, it looked like he was an omega based on body type alone. Of course, that didn't mean anything, Kai caught a glance of herself in her bedroom mirror. She didn't exactly hate how she looked, she actually liked how she looked. She looked like someone who gave warm hugs and made the best chocolate chip cookies for bad days. But... She hated how other people acted because of how she looked. Telling her exercise more, asking her if she was sure she was an alpha and a million other things that still hurt no matter how long ago they were said.

Kai never wanted to admit it but she had a bit of a crush on Yellowtail. But she had no hopes for any sort of relationship. So she never made any attempts towards flirting. She remained friendly though, it was enough to just have someone like that as a friend. Those were just as hard to come by for Kai as a romantic partner. So she'd just remain happy with that.

As she made her lunch, Kai chopped up some of her favorite veggies and put them into a curry. Since moving to Emerald City she got the chance to try all kinds of foods. Curry had become a fast favorite of hers. Soft techno music played in the background of her apartment and she hummed along. Then her phone rang, with a cute 'pi pi pi', thinking it was her mom she reached over without looking and answered it. "Hello!" She greeted just as she heard a male voice say.

"Come on give it back! It took a year before she trusted me enough to see her castle! I don't want to lose my friend because you want to be a dick!" "Um, who is this?" Kai asked just as the scuffling stopped and she heard a soft yelp on the other end. "Oh my God... You sound so cute." Kai felt a little weird hearing this, but the pattern of speech felt familiar. "Yellowtail?" She asked, "Empress! I'm so sorry! My jerk of a friend grabbed my phone and called you!" Yellowtail was on the other end, "It's for your own good!" Kai heard another male voice shout in the background.

Kai felt her hands shake slightly, "Oh that's..." She was nervous, "I'm so sorry. I'm going to hang up right now!" Yellowtail exclaimed on the other end, before Kai could stop herself she heard herself say, "Ah well, you don't have to hang up if you don't want to." Her voice shook slightly, "I'm just... Uh, a little shy. So sorry if I sound nervous." Kai said sheepishly, her heart raced, she didn't want to hang up. Yellowtail's voice sounded exactly how she had always imagined it.

"No! It's okay! I'm nervous too." She heard Yellowtail say, he sounded excited she could hear the smile in his voice and his voice wobbled a little bit as he spoke. "I've... Always wanted to talk to you... But I know you like your privacy! So I... I never really asked." Yellowtail rambled a bit. She heard a nervous giggle escape Yellowtail's lips. "You sound just like I've always imagined." Kai felt her face heat up, "You sound just like I imagined too." She replied softly, Kai heard a soft 'Oh my God, I'm a mess.' from Yellowtail.

He talked just like he did in the chat. It was kind of funny to hear that out loud. She found herself smiling before she realized it they talked for about four hours. Carrying on conversations they had in their text chats and talking about their plans for the big mob battle that weekend. Soon, Kai found herself being as loud as she was in their text chats. "No! No! No! Monty and Harry are meant to be together!" She argued, "Come on Em! Join the dark side, ship Harry with Paul!" Yellowtail begged on the other end, "I will never join that side, it's wrong!" Kai said dramatically before laughing. "I don't actually care." She said softly, "I know, but it's fun to argue." Yellowtail replied. Kai felt her cheeks burn brightly and her heart flutter. She knew it'd hurt later. But for now, she just wanted to pretend like this would go on forever like this.

"Tails it's a little late on my side of the world," Kai said with a yawn, her curry had been eaten hours ago and infomercials were playing on her television. She heard Yellowtail sigh softly, "Okay." There was some silence before he spoke up, "Empress... Can... Can I call you again?" He asked meekly, "I really, really like hearing your voice." He added quietly. Kai was quiet for a moment, then she spoke up. "Yeah, you can call me back. I would really like that a lot actually ."