Complete Private No Reservations

[Ash Vargold]

999 Henry St, Brooklyn, New York​

Going to a restaurant on her own always felt weird to Aisling. If she wasn't getting too much attention (read: any attention at all) at a counter seat, it was being overly conscious of the fact that she was one person sitting at a table meant for four. Normally she preferred the latter, but today she'd been given no choice except sitting at said counter. She'd almost turned around and walked out when she'd learned that.

But Aisling was hungry, she was getting tired of burgers and pizza, and this place had good reviews and a lunch menu that wasn't too expensive. She could afford to treat herself now and then - especially now that she had a paycheck that could actually accommodate for that sort of thing.

Besides, letting herself be defeated by something as minimal as basic human interaction? She didn't need some kind of virtual death curse to engage in small talk, and there was always the option of pulling out a phone and looking like she had something more important to focus on.

Aisling had a lot of practice.

For now, though, there was a menu to skim through, and the eternal war between picking things that were cheap and picking things that were tasty. Hah, now there was something not even "Ash" could solve...

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Sorry Chef, but I really need to go..." A young man apologized, rather sheepish as he pushed the door open.

"That's no problem, buddy." Brian smiled reassuringly. "Don't keep your sister waiting, she will get better sooner if you are there with her." He teased him a bit, before half waving and sighing as the man left. Now they were just about to get understaffed.

Well, it was fine, as long as he managed to keep good control of the kitchen and the orders, it should be fine. Besides, it was nice to remember the old days of picking up orders.

Moving nearer the counter, where he would have access to communicate with both the kitchen and the waiters, Brian noticed a woman that was left without giving her order yet.

Approaching, Brian showed a warm smile and a greeting. "Welcome, ma'am. May I take your order?" He asked with a grin and his typical cheerful tone.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

There was a startled moment as Ash looked up-

No, stop. Rewind.

Aisling looked up, startled out of her focus by a voice so familiar that she'd almost forgotten where she was. That the face she looked at was also familiar didn't help much. The person at the counter looked so much like Hanno that it was hard to convince herself that it wasn't.

She forced herself to look back to the menu, distinctly aware of the fact she'd be staring a little too long. She tapped an idle staccato on the counter with one hand as she tried to get her thoughts back into order. Food, food, that was what she was here for.

Uh, could I get the seafood pasta? With the salad as the side, please.

Really, it was just uncanny how similar he looked. It couldn't actually be him, right? She didn't know anything about his life in the real world, but the chance that she'd walk into a restaurant where his player worked was so small as to be impossible.

Just a coincidence. Yeah...

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Brian didn't really understand why the woman struck him with that gaze, especially with the way she abruptly shifted it to the menu. Was there something on his face? Well, he couldn't know... Unless!

"Heh, it is weird to ask for an order from the chef, right?" He guessed with a playful chuckle, trying to be more casual with the customer, who seemed a bit sheepish right now. He didn't need to be entirely professional all the time, in fact, some of the customers liked how less stiff he was compared to the chefs of the other shifts.

He then reached for the notepad, taking note of the woman's order as he murmured it- "Seafood pasta and salad as the side..." Brian nodded.

"Alright, how about a drink? Will be having any, buddy-" Brian blinked as he slipped it, chuckling apologetically before correcting himself: "- Ma'am?" A bit too casual for a customer that isn't a regular, Brian.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Fuck.

This actually was Hanno, wasn't it? Didn't just sound like him, but talked like him, too. All the restaurants she could have walked into, and it was the one staffed by someone who played the same very illegal game as her. And someone she knew, to boot.

Thank god Ash looks nothing like me, she thought, smiling back automatically as she shook her head. Hanno in game was a friend, but that meant nothing in reality. You never knew what the person was like on the other side of the screen, how much of their online persona was real and how much was just an act...

Uh, not that weird. I was just lost in thought.

Water's fine.

She scooted the menu back into Ha- into the chef's reach still dutifully avoiding eye contact. Part of her was worried she looked suspicious, but... well, people were great at rationalizing weird behavior. Probably just came off as some awkward old woman in an unfamiliar restaurant.

...if that's really Hanno... how the hell is he so tall?!

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Brian smirked at the answer, softening his gaze as she mentioned being lost in thought. "Water huh? All noted. Your meal will be here soon." He ensured, stepping away from the counter as he went for the kitchen's window, already sending the order before he moved on to another customer.

He couldn't help but still feel a hint of curiosity-- But why that woman felt a bit strange..? Shaking those thoughts off, Brian returned to his work.

For the next few minutes, Brian took his time to greet a few regulars, some of them whom he could act a bit more casually without putting them in an awkward spot or without making them feel insulted for not being treated with a more formal cordiality.

That was until the order of the woman was ready, which then Brian returned to the counter, taking it when noticing the other waiters were busy with another task.

"Guess what? Here is your order, lady. Sorry for your wait, and I hope you enjoy it." Brian said, being careful and gentle to place the order, despite his energetic and happy approach.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Aisling relaxed as "Hanno" stepped away to do other things. She took a rather large drink of the complimentary water before pulling out her phone to distract herself.

She'd run into someone she was fairly sure was Hanno, or at least Hanno's player. He hadn't recognized her, thank god. She didn't know what she would do if that was out. That time with Kyra had been bad enough.

This didn't need to mean anything in the end, though. She'd have this one brief encounter, then she'd probably never come to this restaurant again. Never run into this doppelganger of someone she'd considered one of her closer Terrasphere friends, and very definitely not out his identity and put him at risk.

...it was still something, seeing this tall version of Hanno. It was like someone had put the faerin Ash knew into a taffy machine and stretched him out.

She was still looking at her phone when the pasta arrived. Someone getting into an argument on her blog, again, setting her into distracted muttering as she heard the clank of a plate.

Ought to just delete the whole section... thanks, Hanno- can't read basic instructions...

...

Wait.

She'd said that out loud.

Fuck. Maybe he didn't hear her oh god please don't let him have heard me call him Hanno-

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Yeah, no problem, buddy-" Brian said, with the sentence ending in an abrupt tone as his mind processed how he was called. Hanno.

As far as he knew, there was only one place he used that nickname, username, pseudo-name or whatever one would call it. He paused for a moment, looking at the woman before him... in curiosity. Who that was? Lady N? No, too nervous. Laylabelle? No, no, she would certainly greet him cheerfully or something right away. Maybe Rael? Rael can look nervous sometimes.

He suppressed a frown, clearing his throat and slipping a laughter.

"Hella! I didn't recognize you, buddy! But Hanno? That's an old ass nickname, feeling nostalgic too much?" He said playfully, bending against the counter as he rested his arms on top of it, looking at the woman with a grin before whispering.

"What's your name again?

I mean, by nickname I would probably remember a bit better."

He asked with a wink, wondering if she would tell him.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Aisling was silent as the hope that her slip of her tongue had been missed evaporated. She glared down at her glass of water, wondering if she could drown in it.

She had outs. She could fake a call and ask for the check. She could pass it off as a weird misunderstanding. She could just let the question hang in awkward silence.

But some part of her brain refused to let her do that as she looked at the face of the chef. Hanno had never seemed anything but sincere in the time Ash had known him. You had to be one of several kinds of people to keep playing Terrasphere once you knew what it was.

She just hoped she had the right read on him.

...do not fear death.

And then, with a long sigh, Aisling let her head drop into her hands to hide the twisted look of embarrassment on her face.

...in fact, someone please tell it to hurry up. It's about to get a new customer.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

The answer given to Brian was far from expected, and honestly, he felt a bit ashamed that it took more than a second for him to register it. "Oh..." Brian murmured, widening his eyes right after.

"Oh!" His fist went to the palm of his hand, in an expression that yelled 'aha!'.

"I didn't see this coming." He admited, keeping a smile on his lips, one that only grew more and more as time passed. "- That's some hell of a coincidence. But y'know, it is a hell of a good one." Brian said, still joyful about the reveal.

He leaned away slightly, taking a better look at 'Ash' before he finally eased a bit.

There was a breath of a chuckle, and Brian waa quick to add: "That nickname is a bit embarrassing here though. So call me Brian. Or at least Futaba. That one is real." He admitted.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

I guess we can start at the start, then. Hi Brian, I'm Aisling. 'Ash' for short. Nice to meet you.

Aisling took a few deep breaths before she pulled her hands away from her face, trying to will her heart to stop trying to beat out of her chest. Danger, danger, her anxiety rang, and it took effort to keep it from escalating into a full panic attack.

...yeah, some coincidence.

God, but this was easier in the game. Unlike Hanno and Brian's shocking similarity, Ash and Aisling were as different as they could be. Bravado and confidence were easy to fake when you had an extra foot of height, a supernaturally calm heartbeat, and the ability to cut a bear in half with a good swing. Without all of that she was just a tired older woman with enough anxiety to kill a rabbit by looking at it.

She looked down at her meal, wondering at how quickly her appetite had fled her. But it would be rude to not eat it at this point, so she picked up a fork and began stabbing individuals hunks of lettuce to slowly chew on in lieu of words.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"It is nice to meet you too, buddy." Brian said, looking at Aisling with a warm smile, with the happiness bubbling inside of him. Being able to meet a Terrasphere friend in the real life was always welcoming to Brian, and of course, being Ash only made it better.

"I will admit though, I was expecting the face of a nerd." He joked a bit, until he noticed the expressions of the woman, which were enough to make him stop and look at her for a moment.

She didn't seem to enjoy the situation as much as he did. In fact, what at first felt like some sheepishness, seemed to grow into something far more uncomfortable.

Taking a step away, Brian went for the fridge to take the bottle of water, took a glass and filled it for Aisling and placed it on the counter as she had ordered earlier. "Y'know-" He started. "- If it will make you feel better. We can just pretend we are strangers and we only ever talk when we meet on the other side." Brian shrugged, even if it that wasn't what he would prefer.

"Otherwise... Well. Feel free to come whenever. I can give a discount." He winked.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

"I will admit though, I was expecting the face of a nerd."

Aisling squinted up at Hanno with a familiar look of bemused annoyance, fork still halfway to her mouth. Was that really the impression Ash gave off...?

...gee, thanks for the compliment.

And just as quickly as it came, it was gone. As Brian stepped away, Aisling looked back down at the counter, twirling noodles as she berated herself. This was a friend! At least, Ash's friend! The least she could do was manage a basic conversation, right? And yet here she was, eating lettuce and wishing she could vanish from existence.

She muttered a thanks as Brian set down the glass of water, still avoiding eye contact.

...bit late for that, I think. Gonna be awkward all around, now.

She picked up the glass and took a rather large swig before setting it down with a sigh.

Though I'm only on this coast for a little bit anyway. Just visiting. After this you'll probably never seen me again on this side.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Heh, damn right, it will be." Brian shrugged with a faint smile, watching Aisling's expressions that spoke far more words than she was allowing her mouth to do slip. That didn't mind him, having met other players in real life proved to show to be rather nervous wracking.

"Oh, so you are just taking a trip? That's a shame, I thought I would get a very cool regular now. But well, if it ever happens again, feel free to come in." He chuckled, taking a step away to greet another customer, and hopefully giving some breathing room for the woman before coming back.

"I bet you aren't used to look up to hear this voice." He joked a bit as he returned.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Yeah. Had a job interview with a company that wanted me to show up in person. And since I have family over here I thought I might as well hang out a little longer.

Aisling watched Brian depart before actually taking a few bites of her meal. She'd never put much thought to the person behind Hanno or what he was like. It had never seemed important, since the chance of ever meeting him should have been one in a million.

Now here he was, figuratively and literally wearing the same face, and it was doing weird things to her head. She usually kept a sharp line between virtual and reality, which wasn't too hard considering all the differences. Ash sat up straighter and a little forward in his chair to accommodate for a tail. He moved more carefully due to longer, stronger limbs. He was better at eye contact, because his height made avoiding it more obvious.

Now she was all too aware of how she was subconsciously trying to mimic that body language, and the mental disconnect was making her twitchy. She tried to push it to the back of her mind as Brian returned.

And the face. Here I thought the fox smile was just an aesthetic choice.

Ugh, even her voice was sounding a little off. She coughed a few times and took a drink of water, as if it might wash the weirdness of it out of her mouth.

I mean, I knew you wouldn't be that short, but the complete flip is weird. Then again, that's more my own fault, huh?

I certainly made some Choices four years ago.

She was feeling a little more relaxed, at least. That was an improvement.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Oh yeah? But hey, if you get the job, doesn't it mean you will be hanging around more? Unless... You can work from home, that is." Brian said, pondering for a while. Ever since the start of Virtual Reality popularity, some jobs did take their workplace to these virtual offices, making them fairly more flexible.

Of course, he didn't just take out the possibility that Ash- Aisling was just lying. There was still some hint of caution on the woman that Brian honestly could understand.

"Hahaha-! Fox face? So that's how you guys see me?" He smirked. "Maybe I should've picked beastfolk then." With a shrug, then casting a glance down and up Aisling.

"Well, honestly? What is the fun of going to another world just to be yourself." His voice quietened slightly, making it more private between the two of them. "Being your inner self is a thing, but if you can become someone you can't be in real life and you choose to do so, who is to blame ya?"

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Well, I'm pretty sure I am getting that job, considering I got the offer under... interesting circumstances.

Aisling tapped her fingers on the table. There was a part of her that wished she could pull out the UI menu and take this to text so she could be a little less vague. Unfortunately the closest equivalent would be trading numbers and texting from a few feet away, which wasn't the same at all.

But it means I'm not doing helpdesk anymore, so that's a plus.

She snorted at the mental image of Hanno as a beastfolk, then shook her head.

No, no, faerin suits you. Adds to the intimidation factor.

And playing someone else is one thing, but I'd never played a dive-type game before. Made a male character out of habit. Didn't realized I'd signed up for a crash course in biology until after I learned I couldn't reroll.

She stabbed her pasta with more intensity than was necessary as her mind caught up with her mouth.

Uh. That was probably TMI. Sorry.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Brian rose his eyebrow at the 'interesting circumstances' mention, wondering what that could potentially mean. "I guess it ain't something you would tell to a fox faced guy, right? That does make me curious." He said, but shrugged in a playful gesture.

Aisling's reaction to his suggestion made him more cheerful. If she could snort like that by now, it meant the barrier from before was gone, or at least weakened.

"Don't worry about that. We are just friends talking about silly things." He responded to the apology, pausing to ponder about it. "I won't lie, playing in a different body is very funny. In the past four years I decided to try out a few games too, and my curiosity got me to play so many races, some as a female too." Hanno admitted, tapping his chin as he pondered.

"I guess it is one of the best deals of this kind of thing. Being someone else... while being yourself... so you aren't really being someone else. Does that make sense?" He frowned at himself.

@Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

"No, I think I can trust you enough to tell you. It's just... well, I wasn't actually looking for a job at the time. It found me." In the end, it was easier for Aisling to just let herself relax and stop fighting... whatever this was. It wasn't like it was harmful. Just... weird.

"When all this started again, I decided to start up a blog. Try to make up for the complete lack of information after they went scorched earth." The amount of anger in her tone was sudden and intense. She glanced upwards at Brian (and that was still weird) with a serious expression. "You can't stop someone who's determined to play, so I thought I might as well try to make sure they knew what they were getting into. I thought I covered my tracks pretty well, but... well, I'm lucky they just wanted to pay me to keep doing it."

She trailed off, waving a hand as if trying to brush the topic aside. "Anyway... I tried a VR game or two over the past four years, but... well I'm an old woman that doesn't 'get' next gen gaming." Aisling grinned. "And when your first experience with the genre is so intense, it's hard to settle for lesser products, you know?"

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"... Wait, don't you tell me that you are the one that makes... That blog." Brain spoke, looking at Aisling with a surprised expression, pausing to think for a moment and letting out a quiet chuckle. "Honestly... I thought it was just someone from Lions Pride." He said, looking at the woman with a fond smile.

"So you really care, hm?" Brain said, crossing his arms against the counter and smirking. "I've saw plenty of people taking your advices into consideration. Some newbies already knew what to expect thanks to you as well." He reminded himself of the times he caught new players that already had so much knowledge, that if the game wasn't impossible to reset your account, Brian would say they are smurf accounts.

"So basically now you are being paid to play and do this work, huh? You are lucky..." Brian chuckled.

"... It is hard, you will never find an experience like that anywhere else... That's one of the many reasons people are so determined to play there. It is truly a second life for many."

@Ash Vargold