Juan's Pov: I remember coming home from the lake as the sun was going down. I had no particular plans for the evening other than to play video games with my friends and drink a bit. As the night went on and we drank more, I decided to hop on this game where the whole premise is to chat and drink with others. I joined a particular world where you spin a wheel and do whatever it tells you. When I entered, I saw a group of players gathered around a table. Among them were two loud girls, one with the username RoomTemperaturedMilk (Jamecia), and the other Ciri0 (Ciri). When I introduced myself, they were incredibly welcoming. At one point, I asked, "Who even drinks room temperature milk?" Jamecia proceeded to defend it; which, let’s be honest, we all know is gross. Ciri spun the wheel and landed on the prompt “Take a buddy shot,” and she chose me. I walked over and joined her. As the night went on, we got lost in conversation. I found myself drawn to Ciri’s maturity and her sense of humor. She was funny, easy to talk to, and we connected over music she even told me she made music herself. We added each other on Discord, and eventually the night came to a close. A month passed, and we talked every single day. We played games together and our connection grew with every conversation. The more I got to know her, the more I felt something strong pulling me toward her. She was strong, independent, brave, intelligent, funny, and empathetic. I remember one night talking to Jamecia and saying, “If I ever met someone, they’d have to be like Ciri.” Someone with her values, someone I had this unexplainable connection with. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I might’ve accidentally confessed my crush on her. Eventually, Ciri had to leave for Coast Guard basic training. I was sad though I never told her because I felt like I was going to lose the connection with my closest friend. The weekend before she left, we planned one last night on the game where we met one last round of drinks before she was gone. We invited a bunch of our friends to join. That night, I made the mistake of inviting another girl to the game not knowing that it would make Ciri jealous. Later that night, as we were playing spin the wheel, Ciri suddenly said, “I’m jealous about what’s mine.” I was confused and asked her what she meant. She just said, “You heard me.” Still confused, I asked if we could talk privately. That was the night we finally confessed how we felt about each other. We talked about this deep connection that neither of us could fully explain. We admitted we liked each other, but agreed to stay friends for the time being and see where it would go. During the eight weeks of her training, we exchanged letters. Despite not speaking over the phone, our bond continued to grow. In mid-September, she finished training, and I was overjoyed to finally talk to her again. We started FaceTiming every day, and eventually, we decided to become a couple. I had planned to visit her in January to meet her and her family, but she surprised me by driving eight hours to spend Christmas with me and my family. The moment she got out of the car and ran up to hug me that was when I knew. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Over the past year, we’ve made unforgettable memories: celebrating Valentine’s Day together, our birthdays, glamping, cosplaying, and traveling to the West Coast. Ciri is the partner I want to spend the rest of my life with.

Ciri’s Pov: My sister Jamecia, a long time ago after COVID, introduced me to the world of VRChat, mainly for drinking and making fun of furries on the platform. I got an Oculus soon after starting my new job, and on the weekends, my sister and I would hop on and explore new worlds together. One night, like many others, she took me to the usual drinking world where we spun the wheel. It’s not uncommon for Jamecia to make friends immediately in VRChat, and that night was no different, except this time we both met someone named xOdyx (Juan). I picked him to be my buddy after a prompt from the wheel. He seemed really chill and was extremely funny. After the wheel died down, we decided to jump to another world, and xOdyx (Juan) came with us, saying he really liked our vibe. We ended up staying up the whole night just chilling, and he added me as a friend on both VRChat and Discord. That meant a lot to me because most people usually just befriend my sister, but he really wanted to be my friend! (my first VR friend) and that made me really happy. We messaged each other on Discord every day, and over time, we started playing more games together and building a connection. One night, we stayed up until 6 a.m., talking and playing a truth-or-dare-style game, and I realized I was starting to have deep feelings for xOdyx (Juan). In a conversation with my sister, he even said that if he were to ever talk to or date someone, they would need to have the kind of connection that “me and Ciri have” (and he’ll claim he wasn’t trying to flirt, but we all know the truth, lol). I think that same night, my sister even caught us in 4K flirting at a karaoke world. Fast forward to the night we were celebrating before I left for basic training. He decided to invite another female friend to our friends’ party in VR. I remember being a bit upset that most of his attention was on her. After a few more drinks, I finally admitted to myself why I was jealous. Later that night, at a house party world, I forget how the topic came up, but xOdyx (Juan) said something like, “Oh, you’re jealous that I’m spending time with another girl.” I replied, “Yes,” and ran downstairs to put on the song Selfish. I came back upstairs and said, “This is me, because I’m selfish about what’s mine.” He said he was confused, but I assured him there was nothing to be confused about. :) We later talked privately and discussed our feelings for each other. Eventually, I had to leave for basic training, and Juan did everything he could just to stay in contact. He mailed me letters, and I remember feeling so happy every time I got one during training. I even called him whenever we were allowed to use our phones. When I came back, he told me how much he missed me and said he wanted to be mine, and I his. One night, while I was falling asleep on FaceTime with him like always, he sent me a flight confirmation to visit me in Richmond a few months later. But as our feelings grew deeper and I learned how important Christmas was to him, I decided to drive eight hours to see him. After many more wonderful memories and time spent together, I visited him again for our anniversary. We went back to the very same lake that started our journey. My best friend, my love, my Juan and only proposed to me, and of course, I said yes. The connection that Juan and I have is so special and strong. I’m so grateful every day that we met. I want to journey through life with him forever, and I know he feels the same. Our love is truly unmeasurable.

To be together! Navigate life’s challenges, the good and bad, all of it! With each other, is our journey and lifelong goal.