Complete Private Don't Block the Messenger

Luthien · Aug 1, 2025

... continued from here.

She'd returned to find that France had been quite busy in the living room, the bard now lying atop a nest of blankets and pillows loosely gathered in the middle after furniture had been pushed away to make some space.

Ivan had already claimed their first victims in the form of Acelios and Emmie, her happy cooing quickly drowned out by the loud shout from the kitchen. The half asleep Clarissa had caught a second wind, her voice leaving no room for argument or bargain as her arms gathered those present—pulling them into the cuddle pile that France and Ivan had started.

A quiet chuckle escaped Valeria as she removed the VR headset, having left her elven avatar in their care as she logged out for a break of her own. "Never a dull moment~" Part of her still couldn’t believe the history behind Ordnung and Sophi, and the unexpected party that had broken out had been a welcomed change of pace.

"Right, lemme reach out to that Jake person before I forget…" Her stretch was interrupted as she remembered the username Ash had barely managed to scribble out before the alcohol in her system won the battle, reaching for the iPhone on her night table as deftly movements quickly unlocked the screen and brought up a messaging app.

She typed away as her feet carried the blonde towards her kitchen, determined to grab a quick bite while she was out of Terrasphere. Light flooded the dark space as she opened the fridge, curiously peering at the contents within before her gaze settled on a small box of pizza.

The familiar hiss and pop filled the room as she opened a mini can of Coke, the light from the hallway barely reaching the table as Val took her seat. She hadn’t bothered to heat up the two leftover slices, a cold bite already missing from one while she continued to type—hoping that Jake wouldn’t outright block her before she could deliver Aisling’s message.

"Th'n block him." Vargold’s words still echoed in her ears as if the caenis had just slurred them but a moment ago and, for a split moment, Valeria’s fingers hovered over the option in Jake’s profile… "He might have questions tho."

Besides, what harm could come from a quick chat with one of Aisling’s friends? She could always block him later…

@Jake Summers

Ash Vargold · Aug 1, 2025

It was nearly an hour past midnight, and Jake was considering pulling the plug.

The plug on the router, specifically.

She'd been locked up in there for a while, for what she had called, quote, "blackmail mitigation". Something casual with that girl she'd picked up recently, apparently (The worst possible way to describe a meetup, and he couldn't wait to weaponize it).

In other words, it was non-combat and therefore "safe" to pull the plug. And, well. If she did somehow end up in another random encounter slash boss battle, she still had the death to spare, right? Though then she'd probably quit the game again, and he'd have to find some new way to keep her occupied...

It was in the midst of this consideration that Jake's phone played the chime specific to her. Which was interesting, because she'd never message him when she had the option to yell at him in person.

He checked his messages. Sure enough, it was for that particular account, but the person messaging him was unfami-wait no, that was the fabled "friend" that she was supposed to be hanging out with, right?

...and oh boy, what a story she had. Jake walked away from the closet and plopped onto the couch as he composed his reply.

Ignore the trip. AKA, don't pull the plug on her. Probably because she was in some kind of Complicated Situation. That was a little disappointing, but a deal was a deal.

Besides, this little bonus could make up for it, depending on how stupid this girl was...

@Luthien

Luthien · Aug 2, 2025

Her phone flashed with a new message, prompting the blonde to pick up her device on one hand while the other held the cold slice of pizza up for another bite—a motion that was instantly halted once she read the word fleshtuber on her screen.

An advice she had received, but had yet to take. Still, she had to admit this ‘Jake friend’ of Aisling certainly had a way with words—fleshtuber wasn’t something her mind had ever thought about to describe vtubers… but he wasn’t exactly wrong either.

She had resumed her quiet chewing, her curiosity piqued as their exchange continued. It was interesting how Jake used ‘ice’ when referring to Aisling, and the general vibe she was getting from the stranger on the other side of the screen reminded Valeria of her own interactions with her own friends—especially Nico .

@Jake Summers

Ash Vargold · Aug 1, 2025

Jake smirked, getting comfortable. Liberal custom emote use indicating a need to express herself, matching her career as an online personality, and a willingness to spend money to do so. Either she had disposable income, or she was willing to make sacrifices for it.

...and a willingness to dismiss warnings made by a "friend" under what sounded like some heavy intoxication. Carelessness, which matched the profile he'd heard.

Give her a couple of topics to jump between. Toss in some spicy bait to tantalize that curiosity. Let her keep speaking her mind.

In his line of work, Jake called this kind of person an easy target.

@Luthien

Luthien · Aug 3, 2025

With each message Valeria found herself feeling more comfortable; and any concerns regarding Aisling’s request to block him, despite her drunken stupor, were easily forgotten. Complicated friendships weren’t exactly foreign for Valeria after all—

"Ooh…?" Two words caught her attention faster than a pointer laser for a house cat, the bubbly fizz of her soda heightening the feeling as her mind wandered.

Not a single emoji had graced his side throughout the conversation, not even the basic ones available without paid subscriptions, though that didn’t mean his messages were devoid of expression. "The nose is an odd choice." Old school she supposed and, considering the few things she knew of Aisling, Val felt certain her guess was correct.

A childhood friend, perhaps? Certainly someone that might've been in her life for a while now, the older woman was too guarded when it came to new people from Val's own experience.

@Jake Summers

Ash Vargold · Aug 1, 2025

Jake shifted in his seat, briefly glancing up the stairs. Somewhere up there, "Ash" was dozing away in two sense of the world, and would be for a while. There was an opportunity here - a way to kill two birds with one stone.

He stood up somewhat regretfully from his comfy chair, briefly closing the phone before ascending to the second floor of the house. Usually, she kept the office locked, but he'd already palmed and copied the key ages ago...

Click, went the lock, and he opened the door carefully, just in case. But the resident of the room didn't respond, silent in her seat as the headset he'd given her blinked away.

Jake walked over to the desk, glancing over the papers with a blank expression. Despite all the technology she had access to she still kept scrawling notes and printing out articles to highlight. A real analog sort of girl, that one.

Now, where were those notes about this "Flor de Maga" hiding...?

@Luthien

Luthien · Aug 2, 2025

Still, she had to admit it had a certain… charm to itself, but that wasn’t something this Jake person needed to know.

Valeria finished the last of her pizza as the conversation slowed down a bit, her own phone momentarily forgotten on the dining table as she’d returned to the kitchen. Takeout box was discarded, and the can of coke dutifully rinsed and dumped into the labelled recycling bin for future disposal.

By the time she’d returned to their chat, teeth brushed and now comfortably nestled back into her bed, she was surprised to see a few messages from Jake waiting.

Good thing she had finished eating and drinking by the time she’d seen them, otherwise she might’ve spat some of her Coke over the table.

Squinty friend… one face came to mind, the faerin player one she had seen on occasion—though she had little interactions of her own with him. Still, from what little Valeria remembered Vargold and the teal-haired faerin seemed to know each other well enough—undoubtedly thanks to whatever situations they must’ve experienced in the past as known veterans of the first Terrasphere iteration.

She was careful to keep details vague when it came to that game, ever cautious considering the person on the other side was a complete stranger to herself.

@Jake Summers

Ash Vargold · Aug 2, 2025

Hm. This girl really had gotten through some of those walls if she was agreeing with him. Jake took a moment to memorize how the papers were arranged before he began to shuffle them around. Knowing her, she'd... yup, she'd left them out before diving.

"Valeria Marie López Morelli... what a mouthful." Name, some past addresses, a list of social media accounts. One in particular was annotated-

alluring.dreams ⟵why????????

-but there were no further details. He had a guess, though.

Click, click, click. Jake took a picture of each one, then put them back in place. This was definitely easier when she was reliably incapacitated.

For a moment, Jake hovered over her. It was amazing how normal she looked when you took away the performative bravado and generalized anxiety. Like a different person, really.

A boring person.

Jake flicked her nose, then left the office. Once he'd settled back down on the comfiest part of the couch, he went back to the phone.

Which meant he needed to figure out just how far she'd stick her neck out for this "Valeria". She could get pretty stupid when it came to friends and family...

@Luthien

Luthien · Aug 3, 2025

A whistling sound escaped her, equally surprised and impressed by the new knowledge that Jake had provided. "A whole decade… damn." The only person Valeria had lived with for so long was her mother and… well, far as the blonde was concerned, that woman was six feet under and out of her life forever.

It was, for the lack of a better word, interesting that this Jake person hadn’t popped once in the various memories she’d glimpsed before… Then again, perhaps this friend of Aisling was smarter than all of them and avoided Terrasphere like the plague.

The mental image alone was hilarious, and that’s without the emerging pattern the blonde was starting to notice.

Two nickels weren’t a lot, but it was impressive that Aisling had found herself in a similar “befriending” situation twice now, perhaps maybe more? It was surprising how much attention Aisling seemed to attract considering how hard she tried to keep the world at bay… but maybe that was the reason?

Birds of a feather always flock together.

@Jake Summers

Ash Vargold · Aug 3, 2025

The story was exaggerated, of course. Was Val imagining her physically running away now? That was certainly more entertaining than the complete truth.

Hm. Jake waited before sending anything more to Val absorb that information. Let the inevitable warm and fuzzy feelings of "friendship" settle in. Maybe she'd even go to bed with pride, knowing she'd broken through those walls.

And once she was good and comfortable...

...strike, and see what color Valerie bled.

@Luthien

Luthien · Aug 4, 2025

The truth was less amusing than the creative imagery her mind had created, though she had little issue visualizing the updated scenario either. "Those smokes are really handicapping her IRL." Personal feelings regarding cigarettes made her wish Aisling would drop the habit, though Val had never spoken out loud about the matter.

Normally she would think no… then again, Terrasphere was anything but normal. Jury was definitely still out on that, and she often wondered where and how the fuck those devs had found whatever code and technology that made its incredible realism possible.

Between that and the unexpected surprise that Aisling might actually enjoy her existence, despite the older woman’s usual protests, Perhaps it wasn’t surprising Valeria had lost track of time as her mind wandered off for a little bit. It caused her to miss the first messages that Jake had followed up with, until her phone’s screen lit up more than usual as an attachment was sent last.

"Th'n block him." Vargold’s slurred words echoed in the back of her mind as Valeria stared at the screen, her eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion as she gazed at the zip file begging to be opened. "I swear to god Jake, if you brick my phone…"

Curiosity had won however, the various pictures stored inside finally revealed. It was hard to make out the information on them at first, they looked to be documents of sorts in a dark room. Couple of pinches had zoomed closer to them, drawn by the red ink on one, before she froze upon seeing that username beside it

One would think a rabid animal had bit her from how fast Valeria released the phone from her hands as she sat up, the device landing somewhere between the blankets, pillows, and plushies that claimed some of the empty real estate on her queen bed. It wasn’t the presence of her personal information per se that rattled her, but the knowledge that someone else—someone she didn’t know in the slightest—currently had them.

A hand combed through sun kissed locks, blunt nails pressing against her scalp in an effort to ground her thoughts, before Valeria finally picked up her phone and began typing again.

What actually surprised her was Aisling leaving this out in the open for her roommate to find, unless… "Shouldn’t underestimate someone that uses the term fleshtuber."

@Jake Summers

Ash Vargold · Aug 5, 2025

What an interesting response.

In this modern era, people were more comfortable with having their info out in public. They almost had to be: even Unity wasn't enough to keep the web scrubbed, and it couldn't do anything about the information already ingested by a hundred thousand little databases.

But even the terminally online knew the dangers of being doxxed, doubly so for fleshtubers putting their face out for everyone to see. Finding out someone you trusted had that power over you? In a normal situation that would be a death knell for any friendship...

...but perhaps not for this one.

Jake stood up with a stretch. He was up later than he'd planned, but after that little session? Getting that glimpse of what was going on behind the headset was worth it.

Would Valerie be curious enough to pry? Loyal enough to resist? How much had she really seen of his little LARPer? What lengths would she go to in order to know?

And how long would it be before it brought her back to him?

"And sweet dreams to you," he said, pausing outside of the office door. "Can't wait to see what you bring me next."

@Luthien

Complete Private Don't Block the Messenger

Luthien

❮ Lore Seeker ❯

Ash Vargold

❮ Dissonant Exterminator ❯

Luthien

❮ Lore Seeker ❯

Ash Vargold

❮ Dissonant Exterminator ❯

Luthien

❮ Lore Seeker ❯

Ash Vargold

❮ Dissonant Exterminator ❯

Luthien

❮ Lore Seeker ❯

Ash Vargold

❮ Dissonant Exterminator ❯

Luthien

❮ Lore Seeker ❯

Ash Vargold

❮ Dissonant Exterminator ❯

Luthien

❮ Lore Seeker ❯

Ash Vargold

❮ Dissonant Exterminator ❯