Chapter Text
When the clock struck 5, Shelby launched her chair back from her desk and scrambled out of the office. This surprised no one. She'd been practically bouncing up and down for the past week and would talk anyone's ear off about her vacation to Scotland, or what she said would be a vacation to Scotland.
She couldn't tell the people at work; they wouldn't understand. Even her boss—the caring, uncaring but in a good way, kind, benevolent, and understanding woman she is—had to be shielded from the truth; provided with only half of it, because she wouldn't get it.
Shelby felt like she was literally going to explode on the bus home. As soon as her front door was locked, she sprinted to her personal computer and almost scratched her table with how hard she was digging her nails into the desk while the Vampire Social Message Platform loaded.
The VSMP was a small website Shelby's friend WetCat, Owen, put together. The two met through a mutual real life friend, Louis.
-Shubble has logged on-
<Pyroscythe> Shubble!
<Holy_Ball> o/
<ClamChowder> I jus’t think that Jacob treats Bella bettwr!
Oh god the foods are fighting again… <Shubble>
<Zomb13> yeah :/
<AbRdefG> yeah :/
<Pyroscythe> yeah :/
<Sausage> jacob LITEERALY ATTACKS BELLA WHEN DID EDWARD EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!11!?
<Legs1979> can you guys please spoiler tag this so we don't have to read it
<WetCat> or log off and takr this to pms
-ClamChowder has logged off-
-Sausage has logged off-
<Zomb13> Oh wow that worked?
Omg guys my plane leaves tomorrow!! im so excited!!!!1!1 <Shubble>
<Listyn> I can almost feel the earthquakes caused by you vibrating in excitement from here.
<Holy_Ball> who's staying in the UK after, because im staying w/ L and i think we should all meet up
<Lnflnlte_> ?
<Holy_Ball> different L!
<Lnflnlte_> ohhh
<Listyn> I literally live in the UK.
<Zomb13> same
<DiggittyDawg> god i cant stand british people
<Listyn> Aren't you British?
<DiggityDawg> south african!
<Kuna1> my gf lives in the states so I'll prolly be heading back after, sorry HB
<Holy_Ball> it's cool!
<Legs1979> i'm going to bed, i’ll see you all there
Bed?! It's like 7 pm! On the East Coast! <Shubble>
<Legs1979> my old man bones need rest
<Lnflnlte_> my detective powers detect your bones are not as old as you say they are
<Legs1979> well can your detective poweres detect this?
<Lnflnlte_> ?
<Legs1979> exactly…
<Holy_Ball> gn Legs!
-Legs1979 has logged off-
Ok i gotta pack!!!! See you all at Soakhurt! <Shubble>
<Kuna1> Oakhurst*
-Shubble has logged off-
Shelby listened to her favorite band, The Villies, on the plane. Their newest song, The Pillar and Pearl, was about undying trust and loyalty. It kind of reminded Shelby of what this trip really meant to her.
She'd never met anyone from the VSMP, save for Owen, face to face. She was trusting these “strangers,” as her mom might put it, with herself. Her mom wasn't the biggest fan of the whole Scotland idea. She felt like Shelby was being set up, but Shelby knew otherwise. She was trusting them to respect who she was outside of 7 silly letters that defined her whole image online. She was sure AbRdefG wasn't just jumbled letters, because she'd known him for over a year, and she knew that he'd be the same person he was online, just with a face attached. It was a test of trust sure, but one among people you've spent years with. It was trusting the words of your friends over the accusations of the world. That was what this whole thing was about. The Villies’ The Pillar and Pearl hit that feeling right on the head.
When Shelby got out of customs they started looking for a sign with their name. Her mom was right about one thing, which was that she didn't know any of these people's faces. Shelby was looking for Lnflnlte_ so the two could carpool when it hit her. She shouldn't be looking for “Shelby.” Lnflnlte didn't know her name either.
Drift felt stupid. She was standing in an unfamiliar airport holding a sign that didn't even have a real person's name on it. Well it was real… and it did belong to a person…
Drift had known Shubble for about 10 months when her friend Holy_Ball invited her to the VSMP to “discuss twilight”. Little did Drift know that HB's definition of discussion would be yelling at 5 other people online. She and Shubble maintained friendly contact for about 3 months until plans started.
Louis, known to everyone by name, WetCat, and Kuna1 started scheming. They would organize an IRL get together, and LARP. Everyone in the group seemed to enjoy LARPing. Kuna1 dragged their girlfriend, Hellfire into planning, though they played more of an administrative force, assigning people their roles as not to spoil anything for the group.
It struck Drift that maybe it was stupid to have written Shubble's name as Shubble. She had to have a real name. Drift knows she would have turned out differently if her government name was “Lnflnlte_.” But who was to say Shubble wasn't real. Drift has known her for almost a year, and never once has a name put her off. If anything it was just a name. Just an honorific. Underneath it, Shubble was still Shubble, surely.
Drift rotated the sign back and forth a bit, anxious. Shouldn't she have landed by now? Drift glanced up at the clocks on the wall. When her gaze came back to in front of her, she met eyes with a red-haired woman with glasses. She was hauling a suitcase and a red handbag that matched her hair.
“Lnflnlte_?” The woman asked, cocking her head a little bit. Her yellow eyes looked deep into Drift's like trying to place a face you know.
“Shubble?” Drift asked back, taking in her academic aesthetic. The green sweater vest was a nice reprieve from all the warm tones going on in her hair and eyes.
“Oh my gosh!!” Shubble squealed, dropping her bags to the floor to pull Drift into a hug. While a little hesitant at first, Drift fully embraced the hug, holding onto Shubble. A real person. Someone like her. Shubble seemed to mirror her stance. She heard Shubble mutter, “You're real. Take that mom. 1 cryptid down… 12 to go.”