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VICTOR VALE

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Nov. 16th [action]

[capturingeternity]

[In the afternoon, a courier arrives at the door to Victor's apartment and delivers a package for him (whether he's there to take it or not). It's wrapped in plain paper and beneath that is a gift box sporting the name of some bookstore in the Up. Inside the box, Victor will find two self-help books with laughably grandiose promises in their titles, as well as a pack of three black markers.

It also comes with a small notecard, which though written on with a modern gel pen has handwriting that is obviously used to calligraphy script.]

Dear Mr. Vale,
I thought you might like some more reading materials. I looked through them both; they are droll rubbish, but I'm sure you might find them useful for your purposes.
Please enjoy them,
-Dorian Gray

[strikesthrough]

[As it happens, Victor is in when the package arrives and it comes as quite the shock. So much so it disturbs the massive black shape of the great dane who had been dozing on the floor at Victor's side. In fact it was such a surprise that the aforementioned dog began barking and probably gave the courier a bit of start and maybe even more so when Victor actually opened the door.

Victor's brow creases as his eyes skim the book covers, then turns the card over in his nimble fingers to read. With the pieces all in place, Victor feels the chuckle in his chest before he actually hears it.

The gift is a moving chess piece and, as ill-suited as he is, Victor can certainly spot an attempt to woo him. A dangerous man, this Dorian Gray. Very dangerous indeed with such keen attention to detail.

Taping his fingers upon the edge of the gift box, Victor considers how best to respond. He could write a letter using one of the books, but the task actually takes up a lot of time and might convey the wrong message.

Instead, the courier is sent back to the sender to return the small notecard, with some minor edits:]

action ---> text; un: liebestod

[capturingeternity]

[Dorian's pleasantly surprised when the courier returns to him, though the man looks a little less enthusiastic about his job the second time he sees him. But he takes the note card back, a small thrill prickling his skin when he notices the marked out words of his own handwriting.

The courier receives a generous tip to mollify him of any trouble and is then sent away. Closing the door behind him, Dorian takes the card with him back to the couch in his apartment's grand lounge and stretches himself out upon it. The message back is short and to the point, but it doesn't matter. He holds it up with the inked side facing him and brings it to rest against his lips and the tip of his nose and softly inhales the sharp, marker scent. Pondering his next move.

He stays like that for over an hour before he removes the card to his coffee table, and takes out his tablet device.]

[TEXT>> to: un: vale]

Are you available two nights from now, at 7 PM?

action ---> text; un: vale

[strikesthrough]

[Victor had every expectation that he would hear from Dorian again in the very near future after playing his own hand, but what shape that would take or how long it would take is the real question that floats back and forth from Victor's mind.

When the message comes through his device a couple of hours later, Victor is surprised but also really quite pleased as he settles back to reply.]

I could be. What are you proposing?

gift delivery; 12/25

[hungerneverfed]

[Victor will find a small package left outside his residence on the night of the 25th. It contains a homemade pistol, as well as 20 rounds of ammunition. It has to be loaded by hand, rather than being semi-automatic, and there is a safety. The note that comes with the pistol is short and unsigned.

Victor might recognize Jonathan's cursive from his work at the Haven Hospital, though.]

May you never find yourself unarmed when you most need a gun to hand.

[strikesthrough]

[Initially, Victor is a little cautious about the package he finds outside his place in the Down--after all, he sent his own arch nemesis a delivery of sorts not too long ago.

When he finally does unwrap the delivery, he is momentarily quite taken aback by the contents and takes up the card which, fortunately, gives all the information he needs.

A private little smile draws across Victor's lips--Jonathan had been astute enough not to sign his name, but even if the note were written with a typewriter then the sentiment would be enough for Victor to figure out who it is from.

How very thoughtful. Victor makes a mental note to make his appreciation known soon enough.]

HACKER PLOT

[hungerneverfed]

[There's nothing in the body of the message except a link to a video. If he doesn't ignore it as spam that might give his computer a virus, he'll have a view of Jonathan being fed upon, then feeding on and having sex with another vampire that Victor may or may not know.]

[strikesthrough]

[The alert on Victor's phone is unusual. Not necessarily because it's from Dr. Reid exactly--they've had a few text-based conversations and passing remarks in Haven--but regardless it does make Victor take note regardless.

Whatever he expects the content of the video to be, the truth of it is quite surprising--Dr. Jonathan Reid in the throes of bloody passion.

Victor, mid-stroll at the time, stops for a moment, then ducks away from the main thoroughfare to examine the recording in more detail.

Interesting.

It's not nearly as shocking or as scandalous as some might find it to be, but then Victor doesn't tend to find the sexual terribly titillating. More than the sexual nature of the video, it's the nature of Reid that interests him.

A vampire. Maybe. Something like it. Something darker than he'd previously thought.

He watches it twice, trying to gauge whether this is footage from a Dualcam clone. Even if it is, he does owe Jonathan. So he texts:]


I just received something of yours on my device.

[hungerneverfed]

[The message comes as a surprise. He scrolls up, confused as to what this might be. He doesn't recall sending Victor any-]

My sincere apologies, Mr. Vale. I do not know how that was ever sent to you. I have deleted it.

[strikesthrough]

[There's a slight delay, enough to show Victor is considering his response before the typing bubbles appear.]

There's no need to apologize.

I might advise checking to see if it's been sent to anyone else--it seems like a rather personal moment.

HACKED

[capturingeternity]

[At some point, Victor's phone receives a bunch of picture texts, all apparently uploaded at the same time. There's at least ten of them, and they're all of Dorian--that much is clear since his face is either half-way or fully visible in all of them.

But they're also fully nude. These aren't your average frat boy mirror flexing photos, either, but are actually... surprisingly lit well and are in poses that are meant to accentuate his best features as much as they are to titillate. All of them skirt the line between obscene and tasteful.

Apparently, Dorian discovered the camera function on his tablet a while ago but doesn't have the technical know-how to encrypt any of his files.]

[strikesthrough]

[The way Victor's buzzes so incessantly is like someone is banging on his front door in a very demanding way.

And when he looks at his phone, Victor arches a pale eyebrow, first at seeing Dorian's name and the sheer number of messages and then--

Well.

Victor does, in fact, look through all of them, each receiving the same partial detachment mixed with factual acknowledgement before he closes his eyes, tilts his skull upward and shakes his head a little.

After a moment though he has to admit this is very forward, even for Dorian. Unless he's very drunk, or high, or... Something.]

Are you sending me some kind of portfolio to appraise, Gray?

I wouldn't have thought I'd be your first choice.

[capturingeternity]

[Victor's the first to be a victim of his hacked pornography, so Dorian has no idea what his reply back means when he sees it, about twenty minutes later.]

What are you talking about? What portfolio?

[strikesthrough]

Ten or so photos of you are currently on my phone. Apparently your clothes didn't make it through the digital ether.

un: 0100000101001101 | MISFIRE

[godofthemachine]

HATE. HATE YOU. DESPISE YOU.

YOUR SUFFERING IN PATARA WILL BE NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

I HATE YOU. HATE.
HATE
HATE
HATE
HATE
HATE
HATE
HATE
HATE
HATE

text;

[strikesthrough]

[Victor's device has never pinged and buzzed as much as it has today, which confirms to him that something very weird is going on, one way or another.

He arches an eyebrow at the furious string of texts and leaves himself a few moments to consider how to approach this.]

AM.

While I appreciate a passionate display of emotion like that, I didn't know you felt that way about me.

[godofthemachine]

[Oh. Oh dear. This was a message AM had typed out a while back but had never sent to its intended target. This isn't good; the network has been glitchy and while it has been somewhat amusing, this time it's not.]

Victor.

Surely you know the network has been acting a bit strange, and I do not harbor those feelings for you.

[Spoilers: yes he does.]

[strikesthrough]

[Interesting--an ex-AI is also subject to this strange network situation. He's probably not going to say that out loud yet a while though.]

I'd heard. It's certainly made my device an active place today.

And don't worry, I didn't think those feelings were directed at me.

[A slight pause sits, and then he adds a second message:]

Are you all right?

[everduring]

I need to see you.

[strikesthrough]

[The reply is immediate, not even enough time for any indication of 'typing to flash up.]

Now?

[everduring]

Yes.

[strikesthrough]

Is it just you coming to see me?

backdated cordispondence;

[girlwednesday]

[it's not for him - but are they ever?

the courier hits send, so that what he receives is a short video of felicity dressed not like felicity at the same time a box is handed over. a quick, 'enjoy your gift' with an attached smirk is all the warning victor will receive before the man practically skips back down the hall.

inside the box? something else not very felicity-like, but she's used one before, only once, in another video.

if, when, he presses play on his device, it'll be short. five seconds of felicity in leather and fishnets, looking incredibly serious as she asks: "Are you ready to see what all the fuss was about?" before the screen goes black.]

[strikesthrough]

[No-one is dumb enough to send Victor a gift. ...Okay, some people are dumb enough to send Victor gifts, but the idiots that do are definitely trying to provoke some kind of reaction out of him in a way that's asking him to make a move of some kind one way or another.

Even braced with that impression, Victor was not quite expecting what hides within the box and for a long few moments just... stares at it. He's not precisely scandalised nor appalled by the 'gift' but it does make him pull a face.

He knows there's a video aspect too and as if expecting that it will somehow illuminate the situation, he hits play and... Well, that has a slightly more taken aback reaction that the strap-on itself as he closes his eyes and tries to work the image of Felicity in leathers out of his mind.

There's a lot of possible reasons why he got sent this, but the most straightforward method of getting answers is to just send her a voice note.]

This is rather brazen, even for you.

[girlwednesday]

[why she answers when she sees it's victor, even she doesn't know. it's bound to be interesting, but after her generic 'hi victor', his next words take her off-guard.

brazen? her? rarely and only with purpose, which means something's happened and she makes a tsk sound.]

Are you going to tell me what you want from me or aren't you?

[well.]