#The start of a beautiful friendship

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[hexmurphy]

[3-2-whump]

Intro to Caretaker: Guard Shack

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Author's Note: the audiobook our new OC is listening to tells a story from the world of @whumped-by-glitter, go check her out if you haven't already. I got her blessing to post this excerpt from her WIP here so that Nico would have a riveting book to listen to.

TW/CW: slavery whump, drug use (in the book). Wow, a relatively short TW/CW list this time!

This was the easiest money Nico Clemenza had ever made. From noon to about 8 pm, he sat in the little guard shack at the entrance of the mansion, opening the gates for the people who were authorized, and not letting in the people who weren’t. It took him a mere three weeks to memorize the faces of each Costa member, what cars they drove, their schedules, etc., but that was the hardest part, so far. The rest of the job involved plenty of downtime, which the young law student used to further advance his studies and slack off on his phone. He really should thank his uncle more profusely for finding him such a nice gig at this place last spring.

Costa Insurance operated out of the old mansion that once belonged to Luciano Antonio Costa –Boss Tony, as some of the older members referred to him. When his grandson, the current Boss, inherited the family business a couple years back, he also inherited the mansion and the several acres of land that came with it. Yet Don Thomas remained content to stay at his penthouse apartment, which led to the Organization renovating the grand old house into an office space, leasing out their previous downtown location, and moving the front to the outskirts of the city. Now here he was, staring blankly out at a long stretch of forested road, gun on his desk next to his textbooks and thermos of coffee, completely and utterly bored.

Just because it was the easiest money Nico ever made didn’t mean he enjoyed making it.

At least he had this audiobook on his phone. When he wasn’t doing his course work or watching the leaves of the trees rustle in the wind, he listened to audiobooks and the occasional podcast to stave off the ever-present threat of boredom. Currently, he was listening to a fantasy adventure narrated by a woman with a silky suave voice:

‘Dasa retreated to a quiet place outside of the cave that was now their refuge. He knew soon enough the weekly dose of Divinity’s Downfall would take effect. It was a potent poison, quite possibly the nastiest poison in existence, deadly in the worst way.

‘Fortunately, or unfortunately for Dasa though, it was just an extremely strong hallucinogenic and he did not want to be anywhere near either of his masters when the familiar claws of delirium sunk into his mind. While the drugs didn’t make him violent or anything, it just got embarrassing when Divinity’s Downfall loosened his tongue and he let all his thoughts spill out. Plus, he didn’t want Annika to know about the poisons; that was his burden alone. 

Dasa sighed, silently wishing he at least had his glass shards, the only thing he could say he owned. His first collection was left behind when he was taken to the palace, the second one was burned with the palace. A tear slid down his cheek. Dasa knew it was selfish; he shouldn’t be crying when Princess Annika and Master Jarek had lost so much more, but it just seemed like nothing would ever be his own. Not even his own body was his own, and the Tallisians could read his thoughts whenever they wanted, so he didn’t even have freedom in his own mind.  

‘‘Master Corvius was right all along, I am just a thing to be used or thrown out on a whim,’ Dasa thought bitterly as another tear slipped down his cheek, the poison beginning to seep its way into his -’

A succession of sharp raps against the guard shack door broke the immersion. Nico jumped a little in his seat, turning around to see who interrupted his story. A slim young man dressed all in black stood outside, his fist retreating from where it had knocked. The intern, his mind supplied. He usually rode out with the Boss at the end of the day. Nico hastily paused his audiobook and rose to open the door, running a hand through his unkempt dark brown hair in an attempt to keep up the appearance of neatness. “Hey,” he greeted, plastering on his signature smile. His classmates didn’t call him the ‘high school heartthrob’ for nothing.

Nico never got a close look at the intern until now. Cal –that was his name, right? –looked a bit young to be an intern, with his rounded, boyish facial features yet to melt away into hardened lines. He was a little shorter than him, though that coiffed tuft of black hair on top of his undercut gave him about an extra inch or so of height. His mocha brown skin contrasted with Nico’s fair complexion, as did his dark brown eyes, compared to Nico’s forest green ones.

“Can I eat my lunch in here?” Cal asked. His voice was a soft timbre, like a glacial lake in a forest. He hardly spoke with an accent, which made Nico feel a little self-conscious that he was expecting one.

“What, why?” he asked. Nobody ate their lunches outside. There was plenty of room in the refurbished dining room, wasn’t there?

“I usually eat my lunches outside, but it looks like it’s about to rain soon, and I would rather not be caught in it,” the intern explained. Nico looked up towards the heavy gray sky. The forecast mentioned chances of scattered showers around mid-afternoon... “Yeah, sure, come in,” he shrugged, moving aside as he opened the door a little wider.

The boy shuffled past him as he entered the guard shack, muttering a quiet “thanks” as Nico shut the door. He slouched back into his seat, then felt immediately guilty that there was only one chair in the guard shack and that his guest would have to stand and eat.

“Wait, would you like to sit down?” he asked, reluctantly rising yet again.

Cal eyed the chair warily as if it would bite him before saying, “No, I’m alright, thanks.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I’ve been sitting all day, it’s fine,” Nico insisted. He pushed his chair forward in invitation. The intern shook his head again. Nico shrugged in defeat, resuming his spot in his chair as Cal unwrapped his sandwich and began to eat.

“So… your name’s Cal?” he asked, starting a conversation. He never got visitors to the guard shack before, unless they were there to tell him someone of consequence was coming or going, or to yell at him, so he didn’t want to bore away his first real guest.

A nod in between bites of food answered his question. “What’s it short for? Calder, or-”

“Khaled,” the boy corrected, washing down his last mouthful with a can of Coke.

Nico’s mouth opened in a quiet ‘oh.’ He quickly quirked his lips into a friendly smile. “My name’s Nico,” he said proudly. “Nico Clemenza, future attorney!” He gestured proudly towards his thick textbooks and unopened laptop. “My uncle got me this job to help me make some extra dough while I pursue my law degree!”

“Oh, um, that was nice of him,” his guest replied before taking another bite of his food.

“How did you get here? Not many people know about job openings in Costa Insurance.”

“Temp agency,” Khaled answered bluntly and a little too quickly.

He offered a low whistle. “Your agency must have one of our guys on the inside, to be able to get you into this job.”

Khaled merely shrugged as he ate the last couple bites of his lunch and chased it with a swig of Coke. “So, what is guard duty like?”

Nico let out a prolong, exhausted sigh. “Boring as hell,” he admitted. The intern chuckled a little at his honesty. “But at least I’ve got my phone and my laptop out here.”

“Wait, does that mean you get Wi-Fi out here?” Khaled asked, tilting his head toward the laptop.

Nico nodded. The boy visibly perked up. “Can you look up the FIFA U-17 World Cup for me?” he requested with urgency. “I missed the last couple games when I was grounded.”

Nico opened his laptop, quickly signing in and searching it up for him. “You’re a soccer fan, then?”

“Football,” Khaled corrected, “the real football.”

Nico scoffed; as a star quarterback during his high school days, he felt personally offended by the sentiment. “You mean soccer. The less cool football.”

Khaled ignored him, an audible groan escaping his lips as he read the results. “My team didn’t make it!” he whined. He sunk his face into his hands. Nico reached up to offer an awkward pat on the back, knowing the feeling all too well. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” the boy muttered, “they were playing against Spain; La Furia Roja are strong as hell, after all!” He set his hands down and leaned back against the wall with a sigh.

“Want to watch what you missed?” Nico offered. He was already pulling up footage of the game on another tab as Khaled gave a small, eager nod. “Come closer,” he beckoned, blowing up the video to full screen.

All too soon, a dissonant beeping noise sounded from a pager hooked onto the intern’s belt. “Damn,” he pouted, “my break is over.”

“Well, at least it’s not raining too hard out there.” The light pitter-patter of rain intensified into a torrential barrage on the steel roof of the guard shack. Nico awkwardly chuckled; looks like he spoke too soon. He grabbed the large coat with ‘SECURITY’ emblazoned on its back from where it hung on the door knob, extending it out to his new friend. “Take this, and give it back to me at the end of the day,” he offered.

Khal took it gratefully and wrapped it over his thin shoulders as he made his exit. “Oh, and don’t be a stranger,” Nico added before he was fully out the door. “Come back anytime and we can watch some more soccer!”

The young intern flashed him a small smile. “It’s football!” he laughed. He raised the coat over his head and dashed into the pouring rain. Nico shut the door behind him, slunk back into his chair, and hit play on his audiobook. He couldn’t help but bear a matching smile on his own face. Looks like his job wouldn’t be so boring after all.

Tag List: @kabie-whump @rainydaywhump@whumped-by-glitter

[kemendin]

Remembering when I started this fight and Kira put Scourge in immediate time-out

[anneimaginesundertale]

Stretch Meet cute in a convention

Stretch shifted on the hard plastic folding chair, trying to find a comfortable position. Just a couple more hours and then he could pack up and go eat. He wanted to go now...All his fans (all four of them, ha ha) had come to see him in the morning. He'd signed a few more books for other curious visitors, but mostly he'd just been watching people go by the booth. Why had his publisher wanted him to come to this?

He couldn't even dress up. ("They need to be able to recognize you!") He'd managed to get away with a goofy t-shirt under his blazer, but it would have been way more fun to get to do a real cosplay. He'd even suggested he could come as one of his characters, but nooooo...

With a sigh, he looked out at the crowd again. Mario, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, lots of anime characters...hobbit, witch, Pikachu, Pokemon trainer...skeleton? He blinked and looked again. Yes. Skeleton. In a trench coat. With a hat. Headed this way! Things just got interesting!

As the skeleton got closer, he realized it was actually a human, with really good face paint and bony gloves. They were clutching a book in one hand. "You're P.T.S. Gaster!" they said as they reached the table.

"In the flesh," Stretch said. "Well, so to speak. I take it you're a fan?"

"A big fan," the human said, holding out their book. "I've read everything you wrote, and--can you guess who I am?" They turned to show you all the details of their costume.

Stretch's grin grew. "You wouldn't happen to be Detective McBones, would you?" he asked.

"The one and only!" They beamed at him. "People have been getting it wrong all day, but when I heard you were going to be here, I knew this had to be my costume."

"Looks great," Stretch said. "You want me to sign your book?"

"Please!"

They held out the book for him. He took it. "What's your name, Detective?"

"Y/N."

Inside the front cover, Stretch wrote, Y/N-- thanks for being the kind of reader I always hope to meet. You made my year. -P.T.S. Gaster

Y/N took the book back and blushed at the inscription. "You're welcome," they mumbled.

Stretch thought for a moment, then asked, "Hey, do you have anywhere else to be? I'm gettin' kinda bonely here all by myself. Could use a buddy for a bit, if you're up for it."

"Sure!"

[zazzander]

Octavian having interacted with Harley all of two seconds thinking: I'm adopting this child, he's mine now

Octavian: say kid, you ever fired an onager before?

[starlitwishes]

@whirlwiinded

… Yeah, that sounded about right.

[hxneyfaerie]

rae answers kori’s diy sos call and afterwards, they hang out.

kori learns more about the snake charmers, their upcoming album, and rae’s plans to renovate her home into a music venue. she also wrangles rae into hosting a music class for her students - in exchange for renovation help, of course!

[theehunkblog]

off topic: but I just blew my new neighbor and before he left he said he’s pretty sure I just ruined bj from other people for him because it just wouldn’t be the same

[goregrishdotcom]

also surprised you haven’t blocked me yet cause I’m just gonna keep sending you messages and making your life a living hell. since y’know you like to do that to people as well

Ok 👍 have fun

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[stories-of-the-multiverse]

“When I first met Lil’ Big, he headbutted me in the chest. In freshman year, Pico came up to me and Nene with him in tow, and I said ‘Yo finally, someone shorter than you, Pico’. Only time I ever made reference to Pico’s height, by the way, and it was to tease his new lil’ friend. And that’s when he rammed his skull right into me.”

“Dude fit right in.”

[cod-dump]

Soap: *says something stupid*

Gaz: I will fucking end you

Soap: Oh please, despite being a soldier, you're too nice. Wouldn't hurt a fly

Gaz: I wouldn't, as flies are innocent, and while annoying, help the ecosystem

Gaz: You, however, I would maim

[apotelesmaa]

I love the tenmas so dearly… the doll event is so good. Saki and Tsukasa having a fight over a misunderstanding and Saki is like I’m so evil he HATES me I’m the worst little sister in the world while tsukasa is like I upset Saki I’m horrible I need to go run directly into traffic. Tsukasa saving up to get Saki new dolls because he thinks he ruined them when he was bringing them to her in the hospital… Saki loving those dolls more than anything *because* tsukasa brought them to her in the hospital… They love each other so much. Do not separate them.

[ghstry]

⚠️ cw/tw slight blood

adeuyuu’s first day in school together 😄 this is right before the chandelier incident in book 1.

[frikatilhi]

New boyfriend unlocked