by Aidan Wayne
It was all very soft and incredibly domestic, and Sam only wanted for more time. More days like this one, where they could just be in each other’s space. Reach out and touch whenever they wanted to.
Dovid and Rachel’s flight was in the evening, but with it being an international flight, they still needed to be at the airport three hours before. On top of needing time to get to the airport, early afternoon drew closer altogether too quickly.
Rachel was going to come by Sam’s apartment to pick Dovid up. They’d be getting in a car and going to the airport. Dovid was going to board a plane and go back to being hundreds of miles away, to being just a voice in Sam’s ear.
It struck Sam then, just how much he would miss being able to simply see Dovid. See the facial expressions that went with the rest of him. His wide grin and constantly moving hands. The shy little curve of his mouth when Sam said or did something Dovid found immeasurably sweet.
He would have to see if maybe he couldn’t do something about that.
For now, Dovid was all packed up, and he and Sam were tucked up against each other on Sam’s couch, simply holding hands and being with each other, trying to soak up the last moments they had.
Dovid sighed heavily when his phone beeped, followed by him playing the text Rachel had sent to let them know she was on her way over.
“Fuck, I don’t want to go. I don’t want it to be over yet.” He swallowed. “I don’t want to leave you.”
Sam reached out to cup Dovid’s cheek, turning him so they were facing each other. “We have a little more time.”
Dovid closed the distance, an edge of desperation to their kisses now, Dovid touching him as though he was trying to memorize the feel of Sam underneath his fingers. Eventually they were just clutching at each other, unable to do anything but hang on and wish they weren’t about to be parted.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” Sam murmured, holding on tight.
“Fucking hard same,” Dovid replied from where his face was pressed into Sam’s neck.
Chapter Eleven
“Hey, guys! This is Don’t Look Now with Dovid and Rachel. I’m Dovid, Rachel’s behind the camera, and today we’re going to eat the entirety of Norway!”
Sam watched, smiling, as Dovid proceeded to introduce him to a variety of Norwegian eateries and bakeries and took him on a tasting adventure—with Rachel behind the camera, of course, eating too and doing just as much exclaiming.
Dovid and Rachel were on a plane back to Seattle at this very moment. Dovid had texted Sam before he’d gotten on the plane, just for one last communication while they were in the same time zone.
He already missed him so much.
But watching his videos was another sort of way to experience Dovid. Sam hadn’t gotten a chance to watch most of the footage Don’t Look Now had released during their trip. Mostly because he had actually been saving up to watch them for when Dovid had gone. And somewhat because, for some of the time during uploads, he’d been lucky enough to get Dovid in person.
Dovid was going home with another one of Sam’s shirts and a bunch of memories, some documented both for themselves and the internet.
In the meantime, Sam still had the rest of Monday off and he had work to do. Dovid had sat down with him and helped him plan out his Patreon tiers, uploading schedule, and some ideas of how to explain it to his subscribers. Now Sam had to make a video introducing it all.
In the end, Sam had decided he would only have two tiers to start with, a one-dollar and a five-dollar tier. One dollar would be a general thank-you for providing regular content, in the same way Don’t Look Now’s tier worked, and he would do his best to record his regular Sunday videos on Saturday, to give those first-tier patrons an early release link, at least once in a while. Five dollars and patrons got unlisted links to an exclusive Patreon-only series. Sam was going to put out a poll on which game he’d do the series of—Dire Straits or Brightforest. He was most known for Dire Straits now, and that was what was still his more popular series, but Brightforest was also getting popular, especially since it was still in beta. The link itself would be posted, as Rachel suggested, every Wednesday. However, just like he had done with the video he’d recorded with Dovid, the video itself didn’t have to be recorded actually on Wednesday.
Originally, Dovid had suggested recording for an hour and breaking the video into twenty-minute chunks, so Sam could film all his extra content for the month in one session. But that would have meant Sam wouldn’t be able to take suggestions or answer questions from his viewers. It had been the deciding factor, in the end; Sam wanted to interact with his audience. So he’d record an extra twenty minutes sometime in the week when he felt up to it and then put the link up on Wednesday. It didn’t seem too daunting anymore, not after all the prep and planning and talking. He was actually sort of looking forward to embarking on a new project.
It took several stops and starts, and a few judicious edits, but eventually he settled on the audio he wanted.
“Hello, everybody, I’m Sam. Now, usually this is the part where I introduce the game I’m going to play for you. However, today I’m actually going to be introducing something else entirely.
“After some cajoling from some good friends, I’ve decided to try out making a Patreon. The links to it can be found here, or in the description box below. If, well, if you like my videos and would like to support me, there are two reward tiers. The first, a dollar, is just a thank-you for my work if you are so inclined. The second tier is a five-dollar donation. Patrons at this tier will get access to a patron-only let’s play series, for either Dire Straits or Brightforest. I’ve a poll up right now that will stay up for a week where you can vote on which series you’d like me to start, and then you can expect new, exclusive videos every week.
“I really do appreciate all of your support so very, very much and wanted to say thank you for watching my channel. I’m hoping that my channel will continue to grow with content and what I can do with it, and this will help enable me to do so. I’d love it if you all came along with me for the ride.”
After playing the video over altogether too many times, Sam took a deep breath and just uploaded it, set his Patreon to “live” and determinedly left his flat to go take a walk so that he wouldn’t dwell too much about what the internet as a whole might think. He did take his phone, but he kept it turned on silent and refused to check it during said walk.
It took a great deal of wandering and a stop at his local grocery store to pick up some ingredients for dinner, but by the time he was home again and preparing a meal, he had calmed down a lot. Enough that he was able to pull out his phone and open the book about the history of Cadbury he and Dovid had decide to read together next. He was able to get lost in that while he ate.
It was only after he’d put away his leftovers and washed up that he allowed himself to go back to his desk and check the views on his video, and his Patreon alerts. Since it had only been up for about two hours, he wasn’t expecting very much at all.
Which was why the ten thousand views was a surprise, especially since the video had been specifically titled “Patreon Campaign” to keep people from watching what was, essentially, a commercial if they didn’t want to.
Which was why the fifty-seven, forty-six of whom were second-tier, new patrons were even more of a surprise, good god.
And that was just in two hours.
Sam swallowed. The idea that he might be able to subsist on just gaming alone seemed like a much more possible concept now.
Wow.
* * *
Dovid Rosenstein: Hey, just wanted to let you know we arrived home safe and sound. You’re probably asleep right now, hopefully having good dreams. Talk to you tomorrow? I’ll be jet-lagged out of my mind but definitely up and around at eleven o’clock <3
* * *
“Dovid! How was your flight?”
; “Hey, you.” Dovid leaned back in his chair. “It wasn’t too bad. No crying children, which is always a plus. Mostly we tried to sleep. There was plenty of sleep we needed to catch up on. There isn’t a whole lot of editing possible to do in the air, but we got a few things figured out.”
“Wonderful. I’m glad it wasn’t too miserable.”
“The only real miserable thing was that I was leaving you behind.” He was gratified to hear Sam laugh. “What? I thought that was smooth.”
“Smooth and suave,” Sam said, teasing grin clear in his voice. “But of course I miss you too. So much.”
“Yeah...” Dovid shook his head, refusing to dwell. Sam in his ear was still Sam. “Anyway. How’d your day back at work go?”
“It was alright. I thought a few people would be cross with me that I took Monday off, because those are usually quite busy, but no one mentioned it. And the day was really quite mild.”
“That’s good. That’s great.”
“Also, erm...”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t suppose you checked my Patreon since you got back, have you?”
Dovid’s eyebrows shot up. “I honestly forgot all about it. Hey yeah! How’s it going?” Even as he asked, he was moving to his computer to pull up the website.
“Quite...quite well,” Sam said.
“Yeah?” he paused, waiting. It sounded as though Sam wanted to tell him himself. “Anything you wanna share with the class?”
“I’ve two hundred and seventy-six patrons as of right this very moment. One hundred and ninety-three of those are second-tier.”
“Holy shit! Sam, that’s incredible. That video’s been up for how long?”
“Just over twenty-four hours.”
“That’s so amazing. I’m so proud of you.” Dovid did the math in his head. “If they all stick around for another week that’s over a grand for you!”
“I, well, yes.”
“Fuck, that’s—Sam. Sam.”
“I know,” Sam said, with a nervous laugh. “I’m afraid I—I don’t know quite what to do. I wasn’t expecting this many, and certainly not so soon. I—Dovid, I—”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself but—but if some of these people actually stick with me, I...there’s a very good chance I could actually leave my job.”
“Fuck yeah,” Dovid said. “I know! And you sound super nervous, so I’m going to keep being excited for you but also what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, not really. I just don’t know where to go from here? How to keep from disappointing everyone. This is...this is more than just putting videos up on YouTube for fun. This is people actually wanting to pay me money for those videos.”
“You can start by giving your patrons what they’re donating for; more of your videos. How’s the poll doing?”
“Skewed rather heavily for more Dire Straits. A new character was released as a DLC and a lot of them are requesting that I play as her.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Dovid said. “And that’s all you need right now. If people don’t like what you do, no one is going to make them keep donating or subscribing. If they do like your stuff, they’ll stick around. If there’s like, an overwhelming amount of people who aren’t happy and say so, that’s when you might want to step back and reconsider a little what you’re doing and putting out there, but really... Sam, I said it before and I’ll say it again: I might have helped get people watching you, but viewers have stayed this long because they like you and what you’re doing. And almost three hundred people liked what you’ve done so far enough to donate to you for future work. I think the only way you’re really going to disappoint anyone at this point is if you get a personality transplant.”
“Thank you,” Sam said quietly. “That you have so much faith in me means the world.”
“No, yeah, of course. Of course I do.”
“Thank you,” Sam said again. The sound of a throat being cleared. “So, what’s on the schedule today?”
Dovid twisted back and forth in his chair. “Editing more footage, once Rachel and I fully wake up. I actually only got up a little while ago, in part because it was getting close to our phone time.”
“Oh. You didn’t have to do that. You could have slept in.”
Dovid laughed. “We got home around three and I slept til ten. That’s still seven hours of sleep. I’m a little wired right now to be honest; technically it’s seven-fifteen for me too, and I just slept the day away. Jet lag’s gonna be weird the next few days. Talking to you on a set schedule helps. Means I’ve gotta be up and doing stuff.”
“Whatever works,” Sam said. “I’m glad to be talking to you.”
“Right back atcha.”
“So more editing?”
“Yeah. A lot more. People know we were on a tour so our video uploads would be erratic, and we were able to get a little bit done while we were abroad—that’s why we were able to release that video of Norway—but we’ve still got pretty much two weeks’ worth of footage to get through and edit. The next few days we’re going to be holed up at home or in coffee shops crunched up over our computer screens.”
“Good luck with all that. I, for one, am really looking forward to watching your whole trip, or whatever you care to show us.”
“Hey, you heard about it plenty while I was over there. Damn near talked your ear off.”
“And it was lovely. But this way I’ll get to experience it all again. Especially Ireland.”
“I’m still pumped we did that let’s play together. I didn’t really pay attention to the comments on it yet, but I might have downloaded and saved the audio file you sent me so I could listen to it again on the plane.”
A chuckle. “I’m glad you enjoyed it so much.”
“I really, really did.”
They chatted a little bit more about Sam’s day and Dovid’s plans, and Sam suggested a new documentary, this one about Vikings, for Dovid to watch when he got a chance.
“Sounds like a plan,” he said with a yawn. “Sorry. I’m awake, I promise.”
“You’ve had a busy few weeks,” Sam said, sounding amused. “I think being tired is allowed.”
“Yeah, yeah. Speaking of, I should probably check on Rachel and make sure she isn’t dead,” Dovid said forlornly. He didn’t want to stop talking to Sam but—
“You have a lot of work to do,” Sam said easily. “Go get started on it. I’ll be up for a few more hours yet, if you’d like to text me.”
Dovid smiled. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
* * *
Dire Straits, with its new player character Mindy, won the Patreon poll. By the time Sam was ready to record his first Patreon-exclusive episode, he had nearly three hundred second-tier patrons, all willing to pay him five dollars a month for four twenty-minute episodes. It was all still a little surreal.
Even more so after August sixth, when the money was deposited directly into his bank account.
Sam Doyle: I can’t believe it. I still can’t believe it.
Dovid Rosenstein: I can! And it’s GREAT.
Sam Doyle: This is really happening. It’s really possible.
Dovid Rosenstein: See? I told you you could make it happen. Your audience just wants more of you. You keep giving it to them, well. Stuff like this only gets easier and easier.
Sam swallowed. He hadn’t told Dovid the kicker yet.
Sam Doyle: Dovid, my flat is 1,200 euros a month including utilities. Food, transport... Between Patreon and YouTube, my entire month’s bills were paid through August.
Dovid Rosenstein: Holy SHIT, Sam, that’s fantastic!
Dovid Rosenstein: I’m so proud of you and happy for you and fuck just—I’m giving you the biggest invisible hug right now.
Dovid Rosenstei
n: God I wish I could hold you right now. Maybe jump up and down with you. Definitely buy you a drink.
Sam Doyle: I’d be happy enough with the hug. But I suppose words will have to suffice.
Dovid Rosenstein: Listen, I’m about to leave for a shoot, but we should be done and home in a couple hours. Maybe three. Would you still be awake by then to talk-talk?
Sam Doyle: Of course. I’d love to. Just call me when you can :)
Dovid Rosenstein: I can call tomorrow at eleven. I don’t want you to stay up too late.
Sam Doyle: I’ll be reading <3
Dovid Rosenstein: Okay, I’ll talk to you soon then. Love you.
Sam Doyle: Love you too.
* * *
“Hey, you,” Dovid said, slinging off his backpack full of camera equipment to deal with later and making his way to his room.
“Hello.” Sam sounded sleepy. Dovid’d have to make this short, even though he was bursting. Rachel had wanted to know what the hell was wrong with him to be so happy. When he’d told her about Sam, she’d damn well near shrieked with glee though. “It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Right back atcha,” Dovid said. “And I won’t keep you, because you need to sleep, but I just wanted to tell you in person how super-duper happy I am for you. And proud. And fuck, I love you so, so much. I’m so glad this is starting to work out for you. That you’re doing it. That this is something you can and are doing.”
“Thank you so much,” Sam said. “I...thank you. I love you too.”
“So what are you thinking? Taking the gaming world by storm?”
Sam chuckled, making Dovid smile wider. “Oh nothing like that. But I’ve gotten my Loot Crate box, so I’m going to film that unboxing like Rachel showed me.”
“Good, great. And when do you think you’ll be able to put that up?”