diff --git a/tests/helpers/vsc/_fake.py b/tests/helpers/vsc/_fake.py
index ef3b5c52..3b9d5c60 100644
--- a/tests/helpers/vsc/_fake.py
+++ b/tests/helpers/vsc/_fake.py
@@ -5,6 +5,29 @@ from ._vsc import StreamFailure, encode_message, iter_messages, parse_message
 from ._vsc import RawMessage  # noqa
 
 
+def socket_close(sock):
+    sock.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
+    sock.close()
+
+
+class _Started(object):
+
+    def __init__(self, fake):
+        self.fake = fake
+
+    def __enter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    def __exit__(self, *args):
+        self.close()
+
+    def send_request(self, msg):
+        return self.fake.send_request(msg)
+
+    def close(self):
+        self.fake.close()
+
+
 class FakeVSC(object):
     """A testing double for a VSC debugger protocol client.
 
@@ -21,20 +44,23 @@ class FakeVSC(object):
       >>> pydevd = FakePyDevd()
       >>> fake = FakeVSC(lambda h, p: pydevd.start)
       >>> fake.start(None, 8888)
-      >>> try:
+      >>> with fake.start(None, 8888):
       ...   fake.send_request('<a JSON message>')
       ...   # wait for events...
-      ... finally:
-      ...   fake.close()
+      ... 
       >>> fake.assert_received(testcase, [
       ...   # messages
       ... ])
+      >>> 
 
     See debugger_protocol/messages/README.md for more about the
     protocol itself.
-    """
+    """  # noqa
 
     def __init__(self, start_adapter, handler=None):
+        def start_adapter(host, port, start_adapter=start_adapter):
+            self._adapter = start_adapter(host, port)
+
         self._start_adapter = start_adapter
         self._handler = handler
 
@@ -65,7 +91,7 @@ class FakeVSC(object):
     @property
     def failures(self):
         """All send/recv failures thus far."""
-        return self._sock.failures
+        return self._failures
 
     def start(self, host, port):
         """Start the fake and the adapter."""
@@ -73,16 +99,29 @@ class FakeVSC(object):
             raise RuntimeError('already started')
 
         if not host:
-            host = None
             # The adapter is the server so start it first.
-            self._adapter = self._start_adapter(host, port)
-            self._start(host, port)
+            t = threading.Thread(
+                target=lambda: self._start_adapter(host, port))
+            t.start()
+            self._start('127.0.0.1', port)
+            t.join(timeout=1)
+            if t.is_alive():
+                raise RuntimeError('timed out')
         else:
             # The adapter is the client so start it last.
-            self._start(host, port)
-            self._adapter = self._start_adapter(host, port)
+            # TODO: For now don't use this.
+            raise NotImplementedError
+            t = threading.Thread(
+                target=lambda: self._start(host, port))
+            t.start()
+            self._start_adapter(host, port)
+            t.join(timeout=1)
+            if t.is_alive():
+                raise RuntimeError('timed out')
 
-    def send_request(self, req, delay=0.1):
+        return _Started(self)
+
+    def send_request(self, req):
         """Send the given Request object."""
         if self._closed:
             raise EOFError('closed')
@@ -102,6 +141,12 @@ class FakeVSC(object):
         self._closed = True
         self._close()
 
+    def assert_received(self, case, expected):
+        """Ensure that the received messages match the expected ones."""
+        received = [parse_message(msg) for msg in self._received]
+        expected = [parse_message(msg) for msg in expected]
+        case.assertEqual(received, expected)
+
     # internal methods
 
     def _start(self, host, port):
@@ -109,6 +154,7 @@ class FakeVSC(object):
         self._port = port
         self._connect()
 
+        # TODO: make daemon?
         self._listener = threading.Thread(target=self._listen)
         self._listener.start()
 
@@ -158,13 +204,14 @@ class FakeVSC(object):
             self._adapter.close()
             self._adapter = None
         if self._sock is not None:
-            self._sock.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
-            self._sock.close()
+            socket_close(self._sock)
             self._sock = None
         if self._server is not None:
-            self._server.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
-            self._server.close()
+            socket_close(self._server)
             self._server = None
         if self._listener is not None:
-            self._listener.join()
+            self._listener.join(timeout=1)
+            # TODO: the listener isn't stopping!
+            #if self._listener.is_alive():
+            #    raise RuntimeError('timed out')
             self._listener = None
diff --git a/tests/helpers/vsc/_vsc.py b/tests/helpers/vsc/_vsc.py
index 30abb3ea..5db4080b 100644
--- a/tests/helpers/vsc/_vsc.py
+++ b/tests/helpers/vsc/_vsc.py
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ class StreamFailure(Exception):
         self.msg = msg
         self.exception = exception
 
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return '{}(direction={!r}, msg={!r}, exception={!r})'.format(
+            type(self).__name__,
+            self.direction,
+            self.msg,
+            self.exception,
+        )
+
 
 def encode_message(msg):
     """Return the line-formatted bytes for the message."""
@@ -26,7 +34,10 @@ def iter_messages(stream, stop=lambda: False):
     """Yield the correct message for each line-formatted one found."""
     while not stop():
         try:
-            yield wireformat.read(stream, lambda _: RawMessage)
+            msg = wireformat.read(stream, lambda _: RawMessage)
+            if msg is None:  # EOF
+                break
+            yield msg
         except Exception as exc:
             yield StreamFailure('recv', None, exc)
 
@@ -35,21 +46,20 @@ def parse_message(msg):
     """Return a message object for the given "msg" data."""
     if type(msg) is str:
         data = json.loads(msg)
-        return RawMessage(data)
     elif isinstance(msg, bytes):
         data = json.loads(msg.decode('utf-8'))
-        return RawMessage(data)
     elif type(msg) is RawMessage:
         return msg
     else:
-        raise NotImplementedError
+        data = msg
+    return RawMessage.from_data(**data)
 
 
 class RawMessage(namedtuple('RawMessage', 'data')):
     """A wrapper around a line-formatted debugger protocol message."""
 
     @classmethod
-    def from_data(cls, data):
+    def from_data(cls, **data):
         """Return a RawMessage for the given JSON-decoded data."""
         return cls(data)