inbox: duplicity

[bardish]

Hey! This is Jeff-- which you probably knew already... I'm not here right now! Uh, you probably already knew that, too. So... Leave a message?

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text « un: varvatos

[unforgivably]

( Hopefully, Jeff recognizes the avatar beside the contact. They had a pleasant enough first meeting. Damon finds he likes to be the local proprietor - not just because he likes having his own watering hole he doesn't pay to drink in, but because people tend to wander in. The lost, the subversive. If he can financially help -- he finds that he will. They do also need staff. )

Skittish. If you were serious about performing, I'd like to set something up. How does a standing set Thursday and Sunday sound. And I can get you behind the bar Tuesday and Saturday. To start. Tuesday, opening. Saturday, close?

I know this sounds like an ultimatum, but I will work with you. Negotiating with everyone's schedules is a fun sort of hell I don't wish on anyone. And we live in a sex city.

un: wallofsleep

[bardish]

[ Oh! He remembers this face. And he remembers... having a drink and escalating a totally normal conversation into an increasingly panicky rant about how terrifyingly daunting the whole Dom-Sub thing is, and oh god he doesn't want a Dom but he's going to need one if he wants to get by but what if he picks a bad one or what if none of the Doms want him because he's too clingy-- AND WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO FOR WORK? HE CAN'T TEACH HIGH SCHOOL IN A PLACE LIKE THIS--

Damon really was a saint for putting up with it. ]

Good! It sounds good! My schedule's wide open and it's not like I've got any other commitments so I can totally work whenever you need me

👍👍👍👍

I'm very excited thank you!

[ It might seem like an overly enthusiastic response, but... Well, he's eager to latch onto anything that'll afford him some degree of independence and self-sufficiency. This is like a major lifeline. ]

fibber overflow!

[bardish]

fibber top-level

drunk voicemail at six in the afternoon

[sloppybitch]

do yourself a faoovr and just never fall in love.
don't do it, man it sucks and it's ugly and not in that ugly beetty cute way
like really ugly i'm talking nosferatu's wrinkly foreskin

[bardish]

[ Oh dear god what is happening, is he going to have to hold his Dom's hair while he pukes tonight? ]

Iiiiii might have some experience with that... Love, I mean. Bad breakups, stuff of a thousand sad love songs, not pruney vampire-- Anyway, um...

Did... somebody break your heart?

voice « un: brokeback

[unforgivably]

( He's texted a list of people. Not a Caroline Forbes phone tree official list, but pretty up there. It's why he calls Jeff and leaves the message. )

Michael's coming back with me tonight, I don't know for how long. But, seeing that there is now a creative serial killer. Probably indefinitely. Likewise, Caroline's daughter, Josie. That other guest room, that's hers. Also, my schedule changed so if you do feel like coming down for a drink, Michael and me are opening together. So, it's like Thursday closing, but Monday opening.

[bardish]

Good! Good, uh, that's... that sounds like a good idea. Safety in numbers. Keeping an eye on... boyfriends and family and stuff. Good.

[ Normally, he'd probably make a silly, optimistic joke about family movie nights, board games, something like that, buuut the whole serial killer business has him feeling pretty skittish and unsettled. ]

Need me to pick up any extra shifts or anything?

text | un: phil connors

[unforgivably]

So, I told him I loved him.

[bardish]

way to go Damon! A milestone!
How'd it go?

action « UPH 004-B, Jeff's bedside table

[onfire]

Dear Boi-with-an-I,

I didn't realize your feelings were so hurt after you bared your inner-monster quite literally to me on the beach, and for that I am so sorry.

My reaction might have been unconscious, but it wasn't because of you. It was the situation, the gore in my hands, the gore I've held in my hands before when searching through the rubble of a bombed out village. It's not something I ever wanted to see again, but I wouldn't want to change any piece of you.

If I ever forget to give you your just desserts, remind me. There's nothing I love more than telling you how handsome, funny, sweet you are, and how happy and sexy you make me feel at 54.

Hope you have a good night at work


Love,
Peter

[bardish]

[ How is this man so

freaking

wonderful??

You better believe Jeff is getting somebody to cover his shift tonight, all so he can stay home and ambush Peter whenever he returns.

And when Peter returns, he'll notice two things: the soft sounds of a guitar strumming, and lighting. Or, rather, all the lights turned off, while their home's illuminated by the glow of what looks kind of like a starry night sky, brought down to earth. From the bedroom, he can hear Jeff singing: ]

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper, "I love you"
Birds singing in the sycamore tree...

[ YOU KNOW THE REST. ]

text | u know when ( 1/? )

[salbutamol]

hey

[salbutamol]

so

[salbutamol]

talking is really stupid

[salbutamol]

hope you didn't take my advice it was bad advice

parcel

[buzzwords]

[ Jeff gets a walkman with no brand logo on it. An honest to goodness personal tape deck, belt clip and shitty headphones and all. The holding door on it is a little wobbly, and it looks like the battery compartment was soldered out and replaced with a somewhat more modern but bulkier rechargeable cell, but it works. There's a bundle of cassettes with it as well, some of them yard-sale mix tapes. All of them contain some pretty weird shit. Duplicity's music revolution some fifty years back must have been a righteously wild ride.

There are also two gift cards, $50 each and dom-approved for Jeff himself by name, for two of Joe's favourite bodegas in the Up. One of them has a shop dog.

A note can also be found in the box, and in some creepy way it's kind of a cute sentiment. But only kind of. "Because you carry sideburns better than your dad did." Who knows if that's even true, but it's 100% there for shock value. ]

un: pozzy

[onfire]

u doin a late set tonight?

2/??

[onfire]

let me know if ur eating dinner
i can warm it up when u start home

a few days before vday

[onfire]

[ When Peter comes back into the living room, he carefully pulls Jeff to him, telegraphing every movement so as not to spook him. His face is never that express, but it's clear his posture is a little stiff, a little anxious.

But his eyes are soft when he begins to speak, ]

Got a big question for you. [ That's how Peter approaches it. Tell him it's important, but not harrowing. At least he hopes it isn't for Jeff. ] Our contract's about up, so we need to come to another arrangement. But I'm thinking—

[bardish]

[ Jeff's nervous, of course he is, that's pretty much his default state, amplified and buzzing as his anxiety practically feeds off of Peter's.

But he tries to mask it behind a grin. It's looking a little sunnier now, like the way he used to smile. ]

Ooooh, a 'big question'?

[ Annnnd his grin starts to fade as Peter goes on. Their contract is almost up, and he knows it-- has known it-- but kept pushing that conversation off, trying not to think too much about it and all the possible doomsday breakup scenarios that could come with it.

It's not like he's much of a partner lately. He's been a total fucking mess, more trouble than he's worth, and fuck, he hasn't even tried to make quota over the past three weeks, which is sure to bite them both in the ass eventually and oh god, he's thinking about 'another' arrangement, like a different one? Like a pity one? Is Peter going to keep him around for another three more months as a submissive in name only? Just a responsibility, instead of a partner? Or-- or-- ]

Oh. Yeah?

un: salvo

[unforgivably]

Was nobody going to give me the big Michael heads up, or did we keep our relationship to ourselves, because what isn't romantic about love under a fascist regime?

[bardish]

ohhhh
shit dude! i'm sorry! I had no idea if it was my place to mention the michael situation or if he would've rather said something himself or if nobody wanted anything said or

[ JEFF IS THE WORST FRIEND EVER. ]

what happened?

text | un: salvo

[unforgivably]

Since we're such close besties, you should know I no longer require Peter-given couch-surfing services. I contracted with a woman named Ella who wouldn't hurt a fly. And, she owns a separate apartment she inherited. So, I'll be living there.

[bardish]

omg Ella??
dude i love Ella she's the best! she's got the BEST taste in movies and her restaurant is amazing it's like my go to place for guacamole!
and i take guacamole VERY seriously, so you should know what that says about her food

i'll miss having you on our couch but also CONGRATS!! 🥳

text; un: doctordisco

[justkind]

so. i've got two offers.

1: talk to me - in person, not with this - about whatever EROS wanted you to do, and monstrous transformations, and vengeance

2: talk about absolutely nothing and jam on a roof somewhere

one could lead into the other. we could do neither. your call.

[bardish]

[ Jeff reads the text and, for as stressed and frayed as he is right now, he just feels such a wave of gratitude for the Doctor. The offer feels like a freaking lifeline right now. ]

got a good roof top in mind?

text; misfire | @c.snow

[trigeminalheadache]

[ eros has decided to send around an old, nsfw image of caitlin. awkward. ]

1/2

[bardish]

[ OH. That's-- well, a pleasant surprise! ]

hello to you too :)

ATTN: JEFF CALHOUN

[duplicitymods]

❝

DUPLICITY CITATION No. 452489 April 6th 2021 Violation: Assaulting a Dominant Fine: A week assigned to Realignment. Payments must be received within 30 calendar days, or debts will be handed over to the Remittance Facility.

❞

un: pozzy

[onfire]

i met an adorable wild west man
he looks like he belongs in a barbershop quartet

[ Daddy like. ]

[bardish]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you met a singing cowboy?

[ Look, we both know you're not dating Jeff for his smarts, Peter. ]

text « un: salvo

[unforgivably]

Hey, bestie. I took a big long dirt nap for a month. Funny, I didn't feel tired.