Chapter 57:

Ace arrived at the hotel where he would be staying, the game company had granted him and other streamers accommodations in a nearby hotel. It would most likely be fully booked with both fans and content creators, most likely a few devs as well. Ace had been invited to a dinner with all streamers and game developers, it would be starting in a few hours, so as one of the bellboys took his suitcase to his room, he checked in and then went to have a shower and read for a bit.

With 15 minutes to go, Ace got dressed, they had informed him that the dress-code would just be casual, so no need for a tie or anything. Ace just wore some black skinny jeans, a white hoodie with some black swirls around it, and some black vans. He also put on a wrist piece, a black leather wrist wrap that Elene had given him as a gift. Regardless of it being nearly Christmas, it was quite hot in the hotel, so he rolled up the sleeves on the hoodie to his elbows. He then made his way down, he took the stairs, and got there with 5 minutes left for the dinner to start. He hoped it would not be too awkward, he was most likely going to be the youngest there, and the fact that no one would accompany him surprised the event organisers, but they accepted nevertheless.

To be fair, he looked 17 or 18 years old, so going off by his looks, he would just be younger than the average content creator, but nothing too crazy. He got to the entrance where there was a maîtreleading people in, he could already see a few people there walking around with drinks in hand. The maître took his name, then showed him where he would be sitting, it was a pretty big straight table, which maximized the number of people that could be involved in one conversation.

Ace nodded at the small details, he noticed that both the lighting and the background music had been tuned in order to give as positive an atmosphere as possible, Ace would not be surprised if streamers with bad blood had been sat as far apart from each other as possible. The goal of this dinner was for all creators to talk, make connections, and give their impressions to the devs on the game as a whole. It was a good idea to do this, and Ace applauded them for the impressive execution.

After signalling where his seat was, where he found a paper card with his channel's name on it. He then went to the bar and asked for a coke, happy that he had to clarify the fact he did not want rum. He had grown, and his muscles were now quite developed, so along with his face, he looked old enough to drink alcohol, Ace smiled.

Known to Ace, people in the room were looking at him, they knew 'who' he was, but they were shocked at 'how' he was.

"Shit, he is hot.", a woman whispered to another

"Yeah I know, but be careful, he is only 14 after all."

"Yeah true, It would be funny if we did not know, half of these people would hit on him by the time the night was over, and the other half has a partner, so pretty much 100% of those eligible. Ha!", she laughed, a grin on her face

Ace sighed, he knew this would most likely happen, all of these people knew each other, they had met at one point or another, but Ace was- "Hey! Bro! You actually came, and without a parent!"

Ace smiled, and shook hands with the man that had come to greet him, "Hey Alex, how are you doing?", Alex was one of his teammates in the streamer match he had taken part in.

"Not bad, not bad, pretty hyped about all this honestly, I hope the update is lit! What about you, what have you been doing these past few days.", then, with a grin, he asked, "School let you out ok?"

Ace grinned back and replied, "Yep, we did have holidays this week after all, and I was... Surfing, with a few friends"

"Ah, pretty cool, that's why you weren't streaming.", he nodded, understanding the need for a break once in a while, "You are smart, you are starting young, so you should take frequent breaks so that you are not burnt out by the time you turn 20."

Ace nodded, thanking him for the advice, they came and went, Alex, introducing him to other streamers, and then the game devs to which Ace thanked for the invitation. They all smiled, thankful at the fact that he was not a young prick that had gotten drunk on the power [A/N: aka: Every 'young master' ever].

It was refreshing, they were all pretty kind, and they all ensured to let him know that if he had any issues or questions, he could ask them. The fact that he was better known than most of them, never came in the conversation.

As more people trickled in, Alex pointed out to a pair of people, "There are the doofuses", he was referring to two of their teammates, they were pretty well known for playing together and taking the p*ss out of each other. Nevertheless, everyone knew they had an amazing relationship, they had been best friends for years, and their comedic commentary was legendary.

"Hey superstar, please dim down, you are blinding me with your ever-shining and holy presence.", Jack said with a lopsided grin.

"Please do, it's hard to see where everyone is, your breathtaking presence overwhelming the poor senses of I, a humble mortal.", Jo had the same lopsided grin, but it was angled in the opposite direction as Jack's, as if it had been planned, which knowing the two, it most likely had. He was covering his eyes with his hand, and as Ace smirked, Alex stepped forward, cuffing them both in the neck. It had become a joke for them when they had first met, Alex had 'fangirled' for a lack of a better word, over Ace, and the duo had found it funny, so every time they were together, they would mock Alex by acting as if Ace was superior.

The duo howled in mock pain, which caught the attention of everyone else. "You doofuses, stop acting like this, you are embarrassing the other decent person in our team." Ace smiled, turning to face the voice, it was Mary, or BloodyMary as she was known. Ace knew her for busting the three's chops, every time they messed around, she would tell them off and put them on a leash, which was the reason why- "Yes commander", all three raised at attention as they heard the voice, straightening up and facing her in a mock military salute, their faces serious, yet a glint of laughter in their eyes.

"At ease dumbasses", she let out a sigh and smiled at Ace, "How long have you been with these guys, not too long I hope, stupidity is contagious, and you are the only one that keeps me sane.", she hugged Ace and he responded. "Don't worry, my defences were up, not even an iota of dumb got past my defences, I am safe… for now.", he said the last words in mock seriousness, which made the other three laugh.

They accompanied Mary to get a drink, and the other three also got refills, "Watch out, please, for the love of everything, do not get drunk again, at least not now, wait for the party later.", Mary said to them exasperated, Ace had heard the stories, the three had gotten drunk and began clowning around, it was not on tape, but the stories were hilarious. It had happened in another dinner, and the attendees had had great entertainment that night.

All three got red in the face, and glared at Mary in mock anger, "How dare you, do you want us to tell Ace about when-", Jo stopped in his tracks, the frigid stare freezing his nerve endings, stopping any sound from getting past, Ace could feel the stare, and it just made him want to find out, even more, he hoped they got drunk so that he could get it out of them.

"If you say, anything, it will not be your chops I bust, you have all been warned.", the three paled, and nodded, no one wanted to be the target of Mary's ferocious temper. Mary smiled at Ace as if nothing had happened, and said in mock sweetness, "Forget everything they have just said, do not worry."

Ace nodded, he knew that was the right move, and by Mary's relaxation and her consequential smile, he knew he had hit it right on the spot.