The Youtuber's Obsession

{Six}

Two weeks flew by, of which Spencer made certain he was up when Sam went on the morning walks with the dogs every day. Occasionally, he would invite himself on evening walks. He worked himself all day, filming videos of him playing online games or on his gaming devices. Having a line of videos scheduled for different days allows him to spend the limited time he had with Sam. So, he filmed himself getting jumpscares or frustrated at the controls of certain games, laughing and shouting at the characters or himself. He put up sound-concealing foam padding in the room he records in, a small office space that was big enough for his desk and computer monitors. He doesn't care what his other neighbors say and thinks about the noise he makes when he's doing live streams or filming.

However, Sam shyly admitted he had issues sleeping some nights when the redhead was particularly loud. Spencer had to ask if the younger boy specifically had issues with the noise, otherwise, Sam would lie and say he couldn't hear anything. It gave the older man an opportunity to sternly tell Sam he doesn't like liars, asking - demanding - to be told the truth no matter what the answer is. Spencer used his voice again on Sam, creating a firm tone that got his point across without spooking the boy too much. He is aware that throws Sam off, confuses him, and makes him question himself. The reactions Sam gives, allowing Spencer to invade his life, throw the baker in a loop. One that Spencer controls. This makes the redhead happy, he is carving himself a path into Sam's life and mind.

Spencer had quickly started his conditioning, the ice cream shop was just the start. Over the past two weeks on those walks, he has managed to get Sam to wait outside his door for him with a few stern commands that were hidden as requests. It took more days than he wanted, yet eventually, he came out to see Sam leaning awkwardly on the wall next to Spencer's door with excited dogs at his feet. Now, every morning he wakes up and opens his door to Sam. He couldn't be more satisfied with how this small lesson of conditioning worked. As long as he keeps it slow and steady, and makes his requests simple like waiting on him, Sam will be okay. Too much or fast and Sam will spook like a frightened colt, rushing back into his apartment to hide away. Simple and steady, patience.

The last thing he wants is to lose any trust he has managed to build up on the walks, he got Sam to open up about himself and to lose that progress would be a setback Spencer doesn't want. He thinks of the boy like an animal, easy to scare yet easy to trust. In less than a month, Sam has shown signs of getting used to being around Spencer. He doesn't tense rigidly whenever the older man is walking up to him, never stays stiff if the man happens to surprise him and he's quick to relax when touched. He may not understand his own reactions, as he often overthinks why he is doing certain things Spencer tells him to do, but he allows it nonetheless.

To Sam, these past weeks have been a tornado of new and odd thoughts or actions. Never had he reacted in such a way to a person before, doesn't understand why he does as told or listened to his red-haired neighbor. At first, after the ice cream trip, he figured Spencer would leave him alone and he found himself content with that knowledge. He would be able to avoid the man like he does his other neighbors, perhaps have a short, polite conversation and then move on.

However, he quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. Spencer joined him for walks in the morning, talking freely and explaining the unasked question of what he does for a living. A YouTuber, he learns, is a person who makes videos for people on the internet and plays different video games. Sam doesn't comprehend how the man gets paid for that, seems too easy, and being the center of attention in videos made Sam vaguely uncomfortable with the thought. He was told Spencer has his community of fans, people that subscribed to watch him - over ten million people. That alone amazed Sam and intimidated him to think that some of the individuals who watched his neighbor could think Sam was walking around with a 'celebrity'. Millions of humans are a lot of people and Sam gets dizzy merely imagining creating a video for that kind of audience.