Ravel was quietly kicking her toe around in the small pond behind Donna Sue’s small house. She noted while she was taping her toe in the water that it had been a few days since she had streamed, and she cursed herself that that’s what her mind immediately went to. It probably wasn’t healthy to have her mind constantly on streaming like that. The whole reason she had come to Donna Sue’s place was to get her mind off streaming for a bit. She was still anxious about the coming package of pull-ups and what that symbolized. It should be arriving today in fact. It was probably already on her porch by now, waiting for her at home, though she hadn't checked her phone to confirm.

Ravel kicked her foot hard in the water making a loud splash. She caught herself thinking about work again. It was kind of weird for her to be thinking of streaming as work, but it was rapidly about to be that. It was both a good and bad thing.

“Something must be on your mind,” Donna Sue startled Ravel with her stealthy approach, but the shock was quickly alleviated by what was in her hands, two plates with cake on them. Donna Sue sat on the small dock next to Ravel handing her one the plates. Donna Sue eagerly began eating her cake off the other. Ravel was a bit picky with her slice.

“Yeah, you know me well,” Ravel admitted.

“Not really,” Donna Sue teased “You only ever come out here to mope by my pond about something. Never come to hang out.”

“Oh, bull shit. I hang out with you all the time!” Ravel said defensively. Donna Sue laughed behind her cake and Ravel cracked a bit of a smile.

“So, what’s up?” Donna Sue asked seriously.

“You’re gonna laugh at me,” Ravel said embarrassed.

“Tell me anyway,” Donna Sue insisted.

“It’s a streaming thing,” Ravel admitted. “Stuffies came back and want to be a dedicated sponsor.”

“Really?” Donna Sue was surprised. “I thought the last ad went horribly.”

“It did!” Ravel answered. “But they came back anyway.”

“No shot,” Donna Sue said quietly before eating another piece of her cake. “Isn’t that a good thing though? Why are you moping about it?”

“It is a good thing,” Ravel responded. “It’s just so much so fast. It’s got me stressed.”

“I thought streaming was something you picked up to reduce stress,” Donna Sue remarked knowingly.

“It was,” Ravel admitted. “That’s the sucky part you know. Now that this streaming thing is getting serious it’s like getting another job, and jobs aren’t fun.”

“I guess not for everyone,” Donna Sue smirked a little.

“Oh, Miss college degree gonna brag about how dope it is being a librarian again,” Ravel said in a mocking tone.

“No,” Donna Sue smirked. “Even I’m not that nerdy, but I’m not wrong. If it’s stressing you this much before you even start making money, maybe you need to be asking if doing this is worth it.”

“It is worth it!” Ravel said a little too eagerly. Donna Sue gave her a questioning look. “It is!” Ravel insisted. “It’s always been the goal when I started this whole thing. I just didn’t think I’d get this far. I guess maybe I’m worried about messing up.”

“Well, I’m not quite sure all of this stuff is supposed to work,” Donna Sue offered. “But sponsors pick you based off your personality right. I mean you talked with them. Didn’t they say something like that?”

“Kinda,” Ravel shrugged a bit. She wasn’t sure if that was the correct interpretation of what Theo had told her in their conversation, but Donna Sue wasn't wrong. Even if Theo didn’t say that specifically the idea was true.

“If that’s the case,” Donna Sue continued. “You just have to keep being yourself, and read the ad I guess.”

“Yeah, but if I’m stuck here worrying, then I won’t by my best self, which makes me worry more,” Ravel said defeated.

“Geez you’ve worked yourself into a loop there,” Donna Sue stood up and started walking to her house. “Come on more cake will break you out of it, I’m sure.”

“I doubt it, but I won’t say no,” Ravel got up excitedly and the two made their way back to Donna Sue’s small house.

Donna Sue was lucky, though not horribly as her’s wasn’t an all to uncommon story in this area. She had inherited her current house, and the small amount of land surrounding it that contained Ravel’s favorite moping pond, from her late grandmother. Though the house was a bit old and worn down with time, it was free real estate. Which had been a great leg up as Donna Sue got started out on her own. It was a familiar home to Ravel as well. When she dropped out of college, Donna Sue let Ravel stay at the house while she finished her degree and Ravel found her own place. Even after she did, Ravel was a frequent visitor, so she quickly got comfortable in her usual place on Donna Sue’s couch.

Donna Sue was only in the kitchen for a moment before returning with another slice of cake on Ravel’s plate. She sat in on the small but decorative coffee table in front of the couch.

“No more for you?” Ravel asked.

“Nope,” Donna Sue answered quickly. “I am trying to watch my figure.”

“You’re just letting me get fat then!” Ravel accused while shoving bites of cake into her mouth.

“You get to have cake cuz you’re sad,” Donna Sue had gone over to her tv, a fairly modern appliance which stuck out with the rustic furniture in the house. She fumbled around the back setting something up.

“Watcha doin?” Ravel asked curiously.

“I’m setting up the console,” Donna Sue said simply. “I remember crush sisters used to calm you down. Well, you’d get riled up and then you’d calm down.”

“I haven’t played that in years,” Ravel said with a small flush.

“Good, then maybe I’ll stand a chance,” Donna Sue had come back to the couch two controllers in hand.

“I doubt it,” Ravel took the other controller. “You’re playing against a professional gamer now.”

“You’re not professional quite yet,” Donna Sue said in a challenging manner. I can take you.

Donna Sue was wrong; she really didn’t stand a chance against Ravel. She was never much of a gamer girl, and a good chunk of Ravel’s personality was centered around gaming. Ravel was enjoying playing a game for fun and not for content. It was weird. She’d gotten so used to being watched while playing that she found herself looking off to the side to read a chat that wasn’t there, or starting to give an update to her followers that weren’t there.

“What are you gonna do?” Donna Sue said in the middle of getting killed by Ravel again. “If this sponsorship works out and you blow up.”

“Big if,” Ravel said with a sigh. Donna Sue gave her a look that told her to drop the cynicism for a moment and indulge her. With a grimace Ravel obliged. “I dunno, probably find me a place in a big city somewhere. Maybe L.A. or Austin. Get out there to make a name for myself you know.”

“Do you really have to move?” Donna Sue questioned. “I mean you stream just fine from here so why go through all the effort?”

“I can stream from here,” Ravel stressed the word can. “But there’s more streamers out in the big cities. More chances to collab, closer to agencies, access to more resources.”

“Is that the real reason.?” Donna Sue questioned. There was a silence for a moment. Ravel killed Donna Sue’s character again and the pause in action gave Donna Sue a chance to look at Ravel seriously.

“What are you getting at?” Ravel questioned. “You don’t think those are good reasons?”

“They are good reasons, I just don’t think it’s the only reasons, or even the real reason.” Donna Sue looked back at the game as her character had respawned.

“I dunno,” Ravel looked away from the game, causing Donna Sue to grab a lucky kill. “I just want to get out there. See the world. Make something of myself.”

“You can’t do that here?” Donna Sue questioned.

“Maybe I can,” Ravel admitted. “But I mean come on Donna. You don’t want to be stuck here in Plantsville for the rest of your life, do you?”

“I don’t feel all that stuck,” Donna Sue answered. “I’m fine where I am. Plantsville isn’t perfect. People here are old fashioned, and ignorant, but they can be nice too. It’s quite, peaceful, and beautiful down here. I don’t think I’d want to leave all this for the city.”

“I just don’t think peaceful suits me,” Ravel admitted. “I feel stuck here. Like I can’t ever escape this place, and since I can’t it makes me want to leave even more.”

“Is that a good reason to leave though?” Donna Sue pressed. “Just for excitement?”

“Maybe not, but it’s more than just for excitement,” Ravel added. “I can make more money, doing what I like instead of wasting away at that hardware store. Making it as a streamer is a dream for me. I just can’t do that here.”

“Maybe you can’t,” Donna Sue replied as the round in their game ended. “I’ll be honest I’m being selfish a bit. I don’t want my best friend to leave me, but it’s more important that you can spread your wings and do your best. I just want you to be sure that you really want to do this, and that you’re doing it for the right reasons.”

“It’s not really something to worry about right now,” Ravel tried to being the mood to something less serious. “One sponsor isn’t enough for me to really go anywhere. You don’t have to worry about me ditching you for a long while."

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Donna Sue smiled. “The streaming world isn’t prepared for Ravel Charger. Just don’t blow up and then act like you don’t know nobody.” Ravel rolled her eyes and giggled at the comment. “Ok let’s go for another round,” Donna Sue got to work setting up another round in the video game. “I’m turning items on for this one.”

“What?” Ravel complained. “Items are so cheap and random.”

“Exactly!” Donna Sue retorted. “I’m not going to have a chance against you without a little RNG.” Ravel sighed again but was a tacit agreement to Donna Sue’s terms.

The girls played a few more rounds of their game. It was successful in distracting Ravel from her streaming worries, though the heaviness of their conversation never really dissipated out of the room. It was clear that they both left some things unsaid there, but that they weren’t ready to say them quite yet.

As another round ended with a much more contested victory by Ravel, Ravel chanced a look at her phone. In addition to the late hour ravel noticed a notification, that sponsored package of pull-ups had been delivered. She had a brief panic at the idea that the package might not be in a discreet box, announcing to all her neighbors that she had a package of pull-ups from the world’s leading adult diaper company. That thought was enough to get her moving.

“All right I gotta get back home,” Ravel stretched as she got up from the couch. “Give me a ride?” Ravel asked her friend with a hopeful look.

“Sure,” Donna Sue smiled and followed her friend off the couch.

It was a quick and quiet ride back to Ravel’s apartment, half of a duplex in the downtown area. Ravel exhaled in relief as they approached seeing a totally non-descript box by her door.

“Important package?” Donna Sue noted the box and Ravel’s reaction.

“Yeah, some sample product from Stuffies,” Ravel explained.

“Oh?” Donna Sue said surprised. “Are you going to be sampling them?”

“No!” Ravel said defensively. “It’s just something for me to show off when I do the ad read.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Donna Sue said coming to a realization. “I mean you have the package though; it seems like a bit of a waste.”

“Donna,” Ravel said flushed “I’m not wearing pull-ups.”

“Some people still do,” Donna sue said sympathetically.

“Not this person,” ravel continued to be defensive.

“Ok ok,” Donna Sue said stopping the subject. “Just saying if you do there's no judgement from me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ravel said getting out of Donna Sue’s small truck. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Any time,” Donna Sue waved after Ravel cleared her vehicle and then drove off. Ravel tried to casually bring the box inside as she opened her door, but couldn’t help but don a tiny blush. Once she was inside, curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box revealing the tightly packed package of pull-ups inside. The package itself was surprisingly mature. it was a grey color with a subtle picture of a model wearing the pull-up on the front. Ravel was expecting the packaging to be a bit more obvious and cutesy. Though in retrospect the product line was called the “discrete” so it clearly wasn’t that kind of product.

Ravel still had some lingering anxiety about the sponsorship, but the afternoon with her friend was an effective recharge. She took the package out of the box, and set it in her room, decidedly more prepared to tackle the coming stream tomorrow.