Hop had disappeared in the morning. Completely absent when Cassius had knocked on his door, gone to breakfast, and looked about everywhere else in and around the hotel.
Normally, this would have been a major cause for concern, and Cassius felt he was rightly worried when he rushed to Gloria's room to inquire about Hop's whereabouts. When he was greeted by a freshly woken (and thus, very pissed) Gloria, he was almost shocked to have been met with complete nonchalance at the mentioning of Hop's disappearing act.
"Wanted alone time to mentally prepare," she explained simply. "Figured he'd have told you. He's okay. Anything else?"
"Uh... no," Cassius managed.
"Good. Wake me again 'nd you're a dead man." The door slammed (not really, since hotel doors didn't slam, but damn if Gloria didn't try her hardest), leaving Cassius alone in the hallway to ponder whatever it was Hop had meant by isolating himself before his first fight as a professional.
It seemed so unlike him. Of the three of them, he was always the one pushing for them to do everything together. The quintessential glue guy of their three-man band. Cassius would have expected Hop to talk to them to settle any nerves he might or might not have had before the fight, or maybe even force Cassius into another "tradition" like the one he had undertaken on Gloria's behalf yesterday. Really, anything that involved them would have seemed on-brand. Not whatever he was off doing now, without them.
Gloria didn't seem particularly concerned, so Cassius would try not to worry about it too much. Still, he wanted to at least confirm for himself that Hop was okay. Grabbing his phone, he opened his messaging app and started typing.
'Hey, Gloria let me know what was up. Best of luck today. I'll be rooting for you.'
It wasn't even a few minutes before Hop had sent him a response—a simple thumbs up reaction, followed by a heart. Alive and well, then. Off somewhere doing Arceus knew what, but alive. Preparing.
With that squared away, and his afternoon suddenly freed up, that left Cassius enough time to his own devices to get some more studying done. Booting up Gloria's full match from yesterday, he went through the entire reel for the first time since it had ended. Though the feeling of awe was still somewhat present, he was far enough removed from it at this point to be able to take a critical look at what Gloria had done to earn her overwhelming victory.
The label of "offensive pacemaster" seemed like such a silly and redundant thing to call someone, especially a Pokémon trainer. Like, yeah, obviously you wanted to control the pace and flow of any sport you played in, and that went double in a combat sport like Pokémon battling. Calling someone a pacemaster felt like one of those labels that were foisted onto trainers that didn't really excel at anything else on the pitch—similar to calling a decent or below average basketball player a "hard worker", or calling a poor student a "joy to be in class".
Looking at how Gloria went about battling reinforced why it was she had been given the title, however. When Gloria fought, it was entirely with purpose and connectivity. Everything she did meant something, even if it wasn't obvious at first. Scorbunny shooting out an Ember that wasn't likely to land was only meant to keep her opponent off-balance—and to determine which direction Milo's Gossifleur had a tendency in dodging towards. A tendency she would call out later, after baiting another dodge and nailing the Gossifleur with a perfectly-timed Ember to the face.
Anybody could do pace, but being a master of it was potent. Gloria could dictate a battle to her own tempo and timing, but also actively disrupt her opponent's. It sounded easy on paper, but what separated Gloria from her peers was her ability to execute that timing and disruption with absurd precision. It was uncanny, watching her fight—like she knew what Milo was going to do before he even did it. Even when it seemed like he was starting to get an edge and a rhythm, Gloria would find a way to shut it down immediately.
Cassius had no idea if he could ever emulate that. Did he even want to? If they made it far enough past the gym leaders, to the point where they would inevitably fight each other, did he want to try beating Gloria at her own game? One that she had spent years training to perfect?
All the elite sponsored trainers were like this, he reminded himself. Marnie had looked like a world-beater in her fight. He could grudgingly admit that Bede did as well. What would Hop show off tonight? He said he was a two-way physical fighter—what did that entail? Beating the crap out of everyone else with brute strength?
Having to catch up to them would be daunting—but still, a part of him was excited to get back out on the road and experiment. Watching all these different fights only reinforced that the possibilities with what he could do were endless. He could mix and match what he liked, and go from there. That was the beauty of battling. And when it all came together, maybe he could look as good as Gloria had yesterday.
He was getting ahead of himself. And restless. Grabbing Hyla's Poké Ball, he popped her out. "Arf!" She welcomed him, stubby tail wagging excitedly.
Cassius gave her scruff a good scratch, working his way up and down her neck. Loving on Hyla always helped to calm him down. Even if she didn't know what was going on, she was always happy to be there for him as a distraction.
"All this battling and training and studying," Cassius sighed, abandoning his chair and joining Hyla on the floor. "Wasn't too long ago where we didn't know anything about anything, huh?"
"Ein," Hyla affirmed, flopping down beside him.
The craziness from yesterday was almost enough to make him forget that after Hop, he would be next. Last in the first leg of the circuit. "You nervous?" He asked.
Hyla seemed to ponder the question briefly. "Rr..." she mumbled, unsure.
Cassius could understand that. "I get it. I'm totally nervous. On one hand, a part of me's excited to show off everything we've learned so far. Tomorrow is the entire reason we did any of the training we've done. On the other, though... man, there's gonna be a lot of people watching." Cassius didn't bother mentioning the fallout that would occur from losing, especially if they got smoked. They both already knew what was at stake.
Hyla chose to remain positive. "Arf," she playfully nipped his arm, showing off her teeth. Cassius laughed. "Yeah, you're a real Bite-maestro now. Feral mutt."
His Pokémon growled, marginally increasing the pressure in her bite. Cassius swatted her away with a snort. "Man, it's gonna be even worse when we inevitably move on to Dragon Breath. Your breath stinks enough as is." That really got a rise out of her, as she proceeded to bark right in front of his face, blowing her so-called "stink breath" all over him. Cassius blanched, crawling away. "Breath mint! Breath mint!" He taunted, laughing.
This was needed. Something to take his mind off tomorrow. As usual, Hyla helped to calm him down. And speaking of people who helped to calm him down...
"Mom and dad will be here tomorrow," Cassius mentioned. That seemed to excite Hyla, who barked happily. "They'll be getting in later tonight, so we probably won't see them until tomorrow. I managed to get them a nice spot to watch from." Combatant's friends and family got a dedicated luxury suite the day of their fight, free of charge. It had been a foregone conclusion that they'd want to come watch him in person, so it'd been as easy as letting the league know that he'd be reserving the suite for his parents.
Come to think of it, he wasn't sure if either Gloria or Hop had invited their folks. Neither had mentioned if they were, but Cassius assumed they would have attended regardless. Hop would at least assuredly have Leon watching, but if Gloria's mom couldn't make the fight, then who else did she have in her corner that wasn't Hop? The thought made Cassius a bit sad.
A knock on the door broke him from his thoughts. Opening it revealed the young woman herself, seemingly freshly awoken and substantially less irritable. "We're goin' to lunch. C'mon."
"Lunch? But I just had—" checking the time on his phone revealed that entire hours had passed while he'd been reviewing Gloria's match and talking to Hyla. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh," Gloria mocked, mimicking his voice (very poorly, in his opinion). "Hurry 'nd get dressed."
"I am dressed."
"Get dressed better. We're celebrities, and I can't be seen next to a bum."
What was wrong with a white tee and gray sweats for lunch? "Like what you're wearing is much better," he scoffed. A white sleeveless crop top, a loose gray jacket, oversized jeans and a tote bag. They looked damn near the same.
Whatever. She was probably deflecting for the sake of ignoring what happened between them last night. 'Wow, that sounds bad when I phrase it that way,' he grimaced mentally.
"Fine," Cassius relented, but not really. It took him all of thirty seconds to throw on a hoodie before reentering the hallway. Gloria clicked her tongue, but either didn't care enough to make him change again or found his "new" outfit acceptable.
"Where are we going?" Cassius asked as they left the hotel.
"Cafe," Gloria answered simply.
Because that really narrowed it down. "And does this cafe have a name?"
No answer, as Gloria took a hard left into... the cafe right next to them. "Okay, sure," Cassius accepted, following Gloria beyond the entrance.
The inside looked trendy and popular, which automatically made him feel out of place. The vast majority of the patrons seemed to be middle aged to younger women, all of whom immediately started looking at them as they entered. Some seemed to recognize them, whispering among each other as they eyed him dubiously. Which was great for his building anxiety.
"Told ya to dress nice," Gloria reminded him beneath her breath.
"I didn't know we were gonna be somewhere high class," Cassius hissed. Really, he should have known, since cute and trendy was totally Gloria's thing. Alas.
"High class," Gloria snorted. "S'a popular local spot, not a rated restaurant. Relax."
Easy for her to say. It felt like he was back in high school, surrounded by popular people who made him feel inadequate. It wasn't these particular girls' fault, but he couldn't help the feeling.
One of those popular-looking girls boldly strolled up right to Gloria. "Ohmigosh, are you Gloria Victoria?"
Gloria was entirely unfazed. "Yeah," she responded simply, not bothering to deny it.
The girl almost seemed to spontaneously combust, immediately taking off her ballcap and presenting it to Gloria. "Wow! Can I get your autograph?"
"Sure." Gloria procured a marker from her tote bag. "Whozzit for?"
"Uh, me," the girl managed, slightly embarrassed. "Alicia's my name."
"Mhm." Quickly scrawling her signature, and what looked like something else, Gloria finished in less than a few seconds. "There ya go."
Cassius angled his gaze to get a better view. Next to her signature, in neat handwriting, wrote; "Keep bein' a bad bitch."
"Gloria," Cassius immediately lambasted. The girl didn't look any older than sixteen. What would her parents think?
"Ohmigosh, thank you so much!" The girl, Alicia, jumped merrily, apparently in love with the personal touch. "You're so nice! And pretty!"
A faint red invaded Gloria's face. "Yer welcome," she mumbled. "I, uh, like yer nails."
"You do?!" Alicia looked about ready to faint as she raised her hands, revealing nails adorned with intricate nail art that Cassius hadn't even noticed. "I was sooo indecisive about the design, and I thought I had a bit of regret after deciding, but I ended up really loving them! I'm so glad you like them!"
Their conversation seemed to embolden the rest of the eyeing crowd, as more girls began to congregate around Gloria. Cassius should have known this would happen—really, what did she think was going to happen when they pulled up to a public space like this? Still, though she seemed to be getting slightly overwhelmed, Gloria didn't shy away from all the compliments and autograph requests, attending to each one dutifully.
It was pretty clear he didn't have much of a space here. He'd just get his own lunch from the hotel, and then maybe go back to—
"Um, 'scuse me," a meek voice called. Turning, he was met with another girl, much shorter than him, but judging by her dyed black hair and piercings, of a somewhat similar age, if not a bit younger. "You're Cassius Hargreaves, yeah?"
He'd maybe never get used to being recognized in public. "Uh, yeah. That's me."
The girl's eyes widened. "Wow," she whispered, before flushing slightly. "Ah, s-sorry! It's just, we don't get many celebrities in Turffield outside of the circuit, and I've never run into anyone super famous before, so this is..."
"It's okay," Cassius reassured her. If only she knew how nervous he was. Trying to ease the tension a bit, he leaned in marginally and lowered his voice. "Honestly, I'm still new to the celebrity thing, so I'm still getting used to people asking me for autographs."
That seemed to calm her down a little. "Oh... well, you seem to be doing well... like, you aren't mean to people who ask you for autographs, and stuff..."
"I guess so," Cassius agreed. The two laughed politely to fill the silence, before standing awkwardly for a moment. "So, did you want an autograph, or...?"
"Oh, um, yes!" The girl squeaked in embarrassment, rushing to find something in her bag. She procured what looked like a journal. "U-um, it's not a diary or anything, just like, more for journaling and self-affirmations and... sorry, it's all I have on me that you could probably sign..."
Better that than a body part, or something weirder. "That's fine. Got a pen?" Handing him one, Cassius opened the journal to the first page. "Uh, is the first page alright?"
"Yeah," the girl nodded. Cassius got to looking for the best spot to sign, unintentionally eyeing the girl's name scribbled at the top of the page. 'Property of Daisy Camden.'
He opted to try the Gloria approach. "So... Daisy. I, uh, like your piercings. They're cool." Flowers (daisies?) were pierced into her lobes, with a few short, stabby-looking piercings lining each of her outer ears. Maybe a bit bold for a seemingly shy girl, but as a fellow introvert trying to break out of his own shell, he could respect it.
Daisy's reaction was more subdued than Alicia's, but similarly appreciative. "T-thank you," she murmured. "I only got them recently. I didn't think they were super special, but I liked the designs, so..."
Cassius nodded. "Well, I think they're neat. I'm from a pretty conservative town, and my school never allowed piercings, so I haven't seen many people with super detailed ones."
Daisy's eyes brightened slightly. "Really? I didn't know you were from somewhere strict like that too. My school's actually pretty okay with them, but my parents—" Daisy froze, before deflating slightly. "Ah... sorry. Never mind."
Cassius frowned, pausing as he was about to sign. For as fortunate as he was to have great parents, he recognized not everyone was as privileged. He wouldn't draw any definitive conclusions about Daisy's private life, and it really wasn't his business, but he couldn't help but feel for her. Didn't everyone deserve to have someone supporting them, just like he did?
He finally settled on a place to sign, but that wasn't important. Similar to Gloria, he left his own personal message, not far beneath Daisy's own name.
Cool piercings, Daisy! Keep being yourself—you've got a fan in me!
From, your friend,
Cassius Hargreaves
Offhandedly, Cassius wondered if the message was a bit much as he handed the journal back, though it was obviously too late to take it back now. He scanned Daisy's expression carefully as she found the signature, and read through what he'd left.
Relief bloomed in his stomach as Daisy eventually revealed a small, appreciative smile in response. "Thank you," she said. "That... means a lot."
"Of course," Cassius nodded. It felt really good to hear that, oddly enough. What else were celebrities supposed to say in these situations? "Uh, stay in school, okay?" He only realized the irony in him saying that after the words had left his mouth, embarrassment flooding his face.
Thankfully, Daisy seemed to take it as a joke, laughing quietly. "Sure," she agreed. "I don't really care for Pokémon battling, and I know Milo's got a big following here, but... I hope you kick his butt." With one more passing thanks, she grabbed her drink and left through the front door.
Cassius had been ready to see if he needed to wrangle Gloria from her fans before another voice cut him off. "Good stuff, kiddo," an older voice called to him from a booth near the corner of the space. Brown hair in a ponytail, obvious accent, and a lingering smell of plants...
"Miss Meredith?" Cassius asked. He hadn't expected to run into Gloria's mom here, of all places. Well, he'd been recently wondering if she'd been in town for her daughter's first professional fight, so he technically had been expecting her here, but he'd more been thinking about her being at this specific cafe the day after... 'Stop thinking and sit down, dude.'
She offered a friendly wave and a smile as he entered the booth with her. "You look well, Cassius."
"Thank you, ma'am. So do you."
"No need to lie to this old lady, but sweet of you to anyway." She angled a look toward Gloria, a small snort escaping her. "Lookit her. Me'own daughter, signin' autographs for the masses. If only they knew how she acted at home, wonder then if they'd be so chuffed?"
Cassius didn't think her admiring fangirls would care much if they learned Gloria got more than a little mouthy with her mother at home. "They'd probably look at it as inspiring."
Miss Meredith laughed. "Aye. You weren't so bad yourself, young man. That little lass seemed quite taken by you."
Cassius rolled his eyes, determined not to get embarrassed again. "I just signed her journal. Nothing crazy."
"Normally, yes. But comin' from a celebrity? Reckon she'll treasure that for the rest of her life." Her look turned suggestive. "Especially from a slightly older, handsome celebrity, hm?"
She was playing him for laughs, he knew. Which only made the fact that it was working make him feel sillier. The woman chuckled at his red-faced silence as she partook of a glass that Cassius was fairly certain was alcoholic.
Her laughing had drawn the attention of Gloria, who finally seemed to be nearing the end of her impromptu signing session. With one last word of thanks for her gaggle of fans, Gloria politely extricated herself and found her seat beside Cassius, boxing him in between the two Victoria women in the booth. Thankfully, none of the girls followed, though plenty of them continued staring and aiming at them with their phones in the meantime.
"Yeah, thanks for the backup, prick," Gloria immediately harangued him as she entered the conversation. "Totally had that under control."
"I wasn't doing much better," Cassius shot back.
"Oh yeah, I imagine flirting with sixteen-year-olds is quite the challenge for you."
"I wasn't—" Cassius remembered to keep his voice down. "And what, you were having the time of your life wooing a bunch of impressionable high school girls?"
"I'm straight, fuckin' nonce."
"Does Hop know that? Or do you plan on laying down obscure hints until you eventually grow old and die alone?"
Miss Meredith sighed happily. "Oh, you two're such good friends already. I'm so glad my little RiRi's finally branchin' out."
"Mum!" Gloria hissed. Cassius took that bit of information with great interest. "RiRi? Little RiRi?"
The elder Victoria quickly intervened before another argument broke out. "You two seem to be handlin' fame well. Already figured Hop was built for everythin' celebrity status brought, but I admit I was a smidge concerned for you both."
Gloria finally tore her glare away from Cassius, settling back into her neutral gaze. "Well, ain't been too bad I suppose. Might need to start bringin' security with us if this is how it's gonna be every time we step in for a bite." Cassius would readily concur with her there.
"Mm," Meredith nodded. "Though, I more meant that you're not so overwhelmed by the duties you have as a celebrity now."
"Duties?" Gloria repeated.
"Aye, you're both public figures now. That comes with expectations—standards, even," the woman explained. "Saw it happen with Lee, and it's already happenin' with you three. You're a role model now. You represent a lot more than you think you do."
That sounded... concerning. "What, like the league?" Cassius asked.
"Sure," Meredith shrugged. "The league, your eventual sponsors, celebrities as a whole. You're now part of a perceived monolith by the general public, as a high-profile individual elevated above the average person. Kids look up to you, and you make people a lot of money. It's on you to maintain that, now, because people expect that from you—your duties, like I said."
She leaned in closer. "Remember—your words carry weight now. More than ever before. People will feast on what you say you like, dislike, even what you don't say in certain situations. A compliment from you can be the highlight of someone's life; likewise, an insult the push that sends them over the edge. It sounds dramatic, I know, but that's the truth."
Cassius was silent, digesting her words somberly. Gloria, meanwhile, scoffed. "And you know this from watchin', what, two of Lee's matches?"
"Such cheek from you," her mother scoffed. "You like to forget I worked PR 'fore makin' the mistake of shackin' up with your bastard father."
"Aye on the bright side, you ended up havin' me, so all's well innit?"
"Would've liked plenty more for all the wasted years 'nd awful sex. Horrid man 'nd an even worse dick, 'nd I chose to marry it. Ugh, the shame."
This had suddenly gotten uncomfortably personal. "Thanks for the advice, ma'am," Cassius hastily thanked, looking for a way to escape the booth that didn't involve trampling Gloria in the process. "I'll, uh, keep that in mind."
"Aye. Still, I meant what I said. You two look to be havin' a stroll with it so far. Gloria'll muck it up eventually," her daughter barked in protest at that, "but you've got a good head on you, Cassius. You'll make it work, I'm sure. 'nd I'm certain your newest fan would agree." She winked for emphasis, something that came off a lot prettier than Cassius might have expected for a woman her age. He could see where Gloria had gotten it from, at least.
Regardless, her words rang true, though they sounded more like something Caroline would say more than Gloria's mom. He'd have to watch out for what he said. His words did indeed carry weight now. A weight that could very well crush him, given any missteps.
"Oh, one more thing," Meredith threw out. "Keep it in your pants, yeah? Lotta slags lookin' for a quick comeup off male celebrities these days. Better off wankin' it and savin' the sex for a lass who's already in the industry."
Now she was sounding like his mom. If his mom didn't have literally any filter. "Didn't plan on doing that anyway."
"Yeah, we know," Gloria scoffed.
"'nd should we air out your biz, daughter of mine? Or are ye still hopelessly pinin' after the one boy who actually tolerates you for more than fifteen minutes at a time?"
"Fuck up, hag!"
"Like I won't beat yer arse in public, brat!"
Cassius, trapped between an aggressively quiet argument between mother and daughter, really wished he could leave.
Cassius was sitting in the exact same seat he'd been in the day prior, when he'd been watching Gloria's match with Hop. Today, of course, the roles were flipped, with a particularly impatient Gloria tapping her foot on the ground in the seat next to him.
"All this bleedin' time-wastin'," Gloria growled, agitated. "Can they just fuckin' get on with it?"
"Did it feel long to you while you were waiting down there?" Cassius asked.
"Duh, but least I had the benefit of goin' over strategy 'nd the like. Cannae do that all the way up here, can I?"
They were lucky there was no one else in the seating area to hear her. "I'm sure it'll start soon," Cassius attempted to console her. "You want anything to eat or drink in the meantime?"
"M'dietin'," Gloria shot down. "'nd I will be sober for this."
He should have figured. Though, this was the first he'd heard of her dieting. Hadn't she demolished a plate of steamed lobster tail? Perhaps it was a good thing that the public address announcer interrupted him before he could make a fool of himself.
"Ladies and gentleman!" The voice was as lively as ever. "Welcome to The Turf, for today's headlining Galar League Gym Challenge match! Are! You! Ready?!" The familiar opening was followed by the predictable chorus of excited cheers. The announcer asked again, and the crowd responded again. Gloria, predictably, did not participate.
"Fighting in the home corner! The humble farmer, finely attuned with all manner of Grass-types! Tough and buff, the people's champion! Number 831, Turffield's very own—Milo Yarrow!"
Country music filled the arena—a different song from yesterday, Cassius noticed—and Milo once again ambled onto the field with an easy smile on his face. His defeat at the hands of Gloria didn't seem to have carried over into today, at least on the surface.
Focus turned to the other entrance. "And the challenger! Hailing from Postwick, he's shown throughout his semi-pro career that a talent for Pokémon battling runs in the family! With a knack for offense and defense, he's not afraid to bring the fight to his opponent! Introducing, for the first time as a professional in the Galar League Gym Challenge and our Champion Leon's little brother—number 189, Hop Dande!"
Cassius had been surprised by Gloria's... unique choice in entrance music yesterday, so he loosely wondered if Hop had something similarly jarring up his sleeve for his first professional entrance. He was slightly surprised to see Hop had played it safe, as a stock hip-hop beat boomed throughout the stadium, Hop rushing out of the entrance with a wide grin, raising his arms and goading the crowd for more energy.
He certainly received that, alright—in the form of an overwhelming amount of boos and taunts levied his way. While Cassius couldn't pick out all of them from his elevated seat higher up the venue, a few that came from the supposedly kindly small-town farmfolk surprised him with the heat in their words.
"Talentless hack!"
"Fuckin' nepo trash!"
"Ye wouldn't be shit without sucklin' on ye brother's nutsack!"
Cassius found himself grimacing. Hop was supposedly hearing all of this down on the actual pitch, so the fact that he didn't even look slightly phased was a testament to his mental fortitude. Or maybe how often he'd heard those kinds of jeers. Either way, he was faring substantially better than Gloria, who looked about ready to nuke the entire crowd.
"Fuckin' worthless nobbers, I'll fuckin' burn down their shit-stained farmhouses 'nd they can go back to fuckin' their inbred cousins in pigsties, fuckin' hicks," she seethed quietly, a look of pure death in her eyes. Cassius chose to let her get her insults off—better them than him, in any case.
In the meantime, the introductions had been concluded, the trainers had stepped up to shake hands, and referee Delman Thomas was once again going through the entirety of the rules for the two. Even from his vantage point, Cassius could clearly see how raring to go Hop looked.
"What're we thinking?" Cassius threw out. "Anything I should be expecting?"
Gloria, sufficiently calmed down, shrugged. "I dunno."
"You don't know?"
"Fuckin' ears for show? I said I dunno," she repeated. Her eyes narrowed. "I hope I dunno."
"But, you two have battled each other, right?" Cassius tried to pry. He'd gone in blind for her fight, and had enjoyed figuring it out, but he'd like to have at least some basis for what to expect from him beyond something as simple as Hop being good at offense and defense. "Surely there's something you're expecting from him."
"For him to win."
"You know what I mean."
Gloria was silent briefly, before sighing. "Course there's somethin' I'm expectin'. I just hope I'm wrong."
"Why?" Cassius prodded, but Gloria was done talking. The two combatants on the field had taken their positions, and the battle was now imminent. The time for talking was clearly over—all Cassius could do now was watch.
Though, with Gloria's words echoing in his head, that made him a lot more nervous than he should have been.
Hop's up next—you might be able to get what Gloria's afraid of. If not, all will be revealed next chapter.
A bit of a personal content update—part of the reason this chapter took a while to get out was because of this new story I'm working on (no one stretches themselves as thin as I do, baby!). While I won't say too much, if you're at all a fan of Attack on Titan, you might be interested in what I'm releasing relatively soon.
More news—in what is the first step to maybe eventually making this writing thing profitable, I've started up a Ko-fi account! Currently, there aren't any tiers or benefits or anything of that sort (at least not yet, I'm still brainstorming things I could eventually roll out), so for now it operates as a simple tip jar. If you've enjoyed this story, or any of my stories, feel free to drop a tip if you're financially able. With tips as low as a dollar, you can give a simple thanks, buy me a beer, or even pay me to never write again (currently $2,000 monthly, rates negotiable)! You can find my Ko-fi at:
K o - f i .com(slash)slalem
It's entirely optional, so don't feel obligated to donate, but I wanted to have the option open for anyone feeling charitable. Much like reviews, follows and favorites, it helps to keep me going.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.
~Slalem