Hugo arrived at the set. He was in a good mood after a great week. Alicia wanted to go on a date soon and he had just experienced one of the best Mother’s Days he had experienced yet, even if he forgot to buy the present. He and his mother had really reconnected for the first time since he had decided to start streaming seriously. He had every reason to expect for his time at the set to be just as relaxing.
His first impression of the set was how quiet it was. The staff scurried around quickly with their heads down. The mood was almost... oppressive. He was quickly and roughly cleaned up and ushered onto the set. Hugo recognized the photographer as ‘X’, a man notorious for his flamboyant personality. However, X just curtly said, “Pose.”
Hugo tried his best to please the photographer, but he could tell X was dissatisfied. Hugo was rushed through the shoot like he was a product on a factory line. The staff just wanted to get it over with.
Hugo finished early despite many photographs being retaken several times to get the right shot. He wanted to stick around for a little bit, but a man in a suit with a severe hairstyle and expression to match. The staff members became obviously nervous at his approach. Luckily for them, he instead targeted the loitering Hugo.
“Who are you? What are you doing here? Where is your pass? Get out of the way if you aren’t going to do any work. Leave the set as soon as you are done. There is no getting paid for standing around while I’m here!”
Hugo deduced that this must be some higher-up, but just as suddenly stopped caring. He had realized something.
“This is another dream.”
Hugo sighed and woke up fully. He was annoyed at having another restless night.
“Is my subconscious trying to tell me something? If so, it’s really damn bad at it. Goddamn it.”
He punched his pillow a few times before he calmed down.
~~v^v^v~~
Hugo tried to stream, but was a bit distracted. His expression was dazed and he started idly singing while gaming instead of engaging his audience. For their part, they were mainly rotating between complimenting and bullying him like normal.
He was partly just in a bad mood from not getting enough sleep. He started to feel like the dream sullied his good memories of the previous day. This line of thought reminded him of Hanna and Amy. He smiled and sang more energetically.
It felt like it had been a long time since he had been able to just hang out with friends like that. It was really nice. Hugo thought about the possibility of meeting up again and what they might do together for the rest of the stream.
Hugo may be aiming for the top, but he still wants normal friends he can be himself in front of. There was pressure to always be positive in front of an audience. Some people are interested in drama, but the majority just want to watch good content. Honestly, his viewers would probably care if he talked about himself and opened up on stream. However, it wouldn’t fill the hole or make him happy.
Hugo decided to give some love to his thus far ignored followers. He had spent a few hours engaging in conversation with them when he recieved a whisper from HighRoller.
