#murdertime trio & reader

[snurtsnurt]

Murdertime Trio & Reader Coffee Shop AU

Based and inspired very heavily by @hashileio's Cursed Coffee Shop AU, 100% definitely go check out their art, it's hella good!

So our favorite found family team ends up getting stuck. In a relatively peaceful universe but the thing is they can’t get out

Using the void as a shortcut can be tricky like that I guess

They’re tryna figure out how to get out -well, mostly Nightmare is, but still- but in the meanwhile, they’ve gotta sustain themselves here somehow

And they can’t just go around wreaking havoc cuz they kinda need to live here for a bit until they figure out how to get out -don’t spit in the well you drink from and all that

So Nightmare has the great idea of starting a cafe, cuz what better way to feed off negativity than in a customer service environment where people are coming in tired and bedraggled for their life juice? Yes truly a genius idea

Bam, now they’ve got a whole gig going on, with Killer as the cashier, Dust as the barista, and Horror as the baker in the back making pastries and whatnot, and Nightmare’s the bossman keeping things running smoothly and trying hard to find a way out of the whole conundrum in the meanwhile

One teeny problemo though

None of the “employees” are particularly good at their job

Dust hates the whole situation and puts no effort into his “job”, will fall asleep on the job, purposely misspells names, does only the bare minimum for it (probably even less)

Killer is just absolute gremlin mode, does things that scare/unnerve customers for his own amusement, always trying to annoy someone, be that a customer, or the boss, or Dust (most often Dust, if we’re being honest)

And Horror… well actually he’s pretty well behaved, good employee, great baker, its just sometimes he eats the pastries and foods that were meant for customers, but he deserves it tbh

So Nightmare decides with the way things are going (not particularly well), he’s gonna hire somebody else to keep things running smoothly, in spite of…. everything 

That’s where you come in! Tired, short-on-cash, just-quit-from-Walmart-cuz-fuck-that-place, college student

So you walk in upon see the hiring sign and Nightmare takes one look at you and the negativity rolling off you in waves and decides you’re hired

He doesn’t say that immediately though, of course, he takes a cursory glance at your resume, asks a couple questions, and then asks when you can start

So you come in for your first day of work, get the lackluster general rundown from Dust (by order of Nightmare), don’t spare a second glance for Killer cuz believe it or not you’ve seen weirder (fucking Walmart), and get introduced to Horror, who hardly even pays attention to you cuz he’s fully focused on decorating the pastries just so

All things considered, the job’s not that bad especially considering you’ve mastered the retail worker “numb-to-the-world-around-you” skill

On slow days you get to sit still and focus on homework, or just relax a lil. Nightmare aint gonna stop you, not when everyone knows you’re one of the only employees keeping this place in business (besides Horror)

Some days you get scheduled to work instead of Killer, but for whatever reason he hangs around the cafe the entire time anyway. You can’t get away from him and his chaos

Sometimes you’re target practice for his horrible puns and pickup lines. Sometimes you’re actual target practice (non lethal methods of course! nerf gun. Can’t have best employee dying!)

The only repose you get from his chaos is the short half hour when he draws surprisingly intricate art on the chalkboard early in the morning. It’s oddly satisfying to watch him create some beautiful artwork, quietly, like a normal person for once. The effect is ruined a bit when he decides to use the goop coming from his eyes (you never did figure out what that is) as finger paints on the chalkboard

He love love loves pranking you and it's horrible. You try to squirt whipped cream onto a drink and it squirts into your face cuz he somehow managed to jam the thing on purpose. When you turn to glare at him he looks away and pretends to whistle and it looks so very stupid considering he doesn’t have lips to whistle with

Some customer bitches about their order being made wrong (even though they haven’t even touched it), so after dealing with them you go to the back and ask if Horror wants it. You have now unknowingly made a lifelong ally.

You have unlocked: Free Snacks From Horror. You’re starting to like the job much more now.

One rainy day when business is so slow there’s no customers, you decide to start a bet with Dust and Killer to make the most horrendous drink combination that would still work

This is how you found out that Dust has an uncanny ability to make an amazing drink out of most anything

This is also how you found out why Killer was banned from barista privileges even though he makes killer latte art, pun intended

The “bet” kind of shifts more into a “let’s find out something that Dust can’t turn into a crazy good drink”

You never did find it partially cuz you got interrupted by someone coughKillercough causing a fire somehow

That day leads to the three of you featuring some new type of drink on the chalkboard every week cuz how could you not make Dust’s crazy cool ability profitable

You get Horror in on the action as well, and now he makes a "pastry of the week" to match Dust’s drink combo and it’s like a whole thing now

You tried to help Horror out in the back one time when y’all had run out of a certain pastry and Horror was busy decorating some other thing and you figured it shouldn’t be too hard to pull this one pan out of the oven. Horror did warn you to be careful, but… well.

You’re not allowed around the ovens anymore. Killer teases you to this day about getting burned the little shit (you’re not sure you’ll ever forget how quickly all three of them had crowded around you when you had initially shrieked from the pain)

That doesn’t stop you from trying to help out in the back once in a while though

Some days you show up a lil early cuz you wake up at an ungodly hour from having a screwed up sleep schedule, but we don’t talk about that and help Horror prepare all the doughs and creams and fruits and stuff

One time Dust came ambling by to clock in while you were kneading some dough and you were feeling particularly mischievous so you gave him a pat on the back when you greeted him (leaving a floury handprint on his jacket)

You thought he didn’t notice and that’s that, but as he came back through he gave you an uncharacteristically wide grin (which immediately set you on edge) and then he swooshed his hand over the small pile of flour on the table, flinging flour straight into your face

This of course started a flour fight between you two, with Killer joining the fray soon after cuz of course he would. Horror kept trying to dissuade the three of you from starting a war with his ingredients but ultimately he just ended up covered in flour too

The fight only broke up after Nightmare came through, giving you all a death stare. Dust and Killer immediately shifted the blame onto you (traitors)

You were sent to time out which just meant you had to take on the closing shift with Killer (truly a horrible and unjust punishment)

Truthfully though, you’re starting to quite like it here (you’d never say that out loud though, you’d never hear the end of it from Dust, and Killer would probably go out of his way to wreak even more havoc than usual)

[ant1quarian]

Ataraxia - Chapter 1

The story. The story is actually here everybody. After so long, I know.

Rain came down in heavy torrents, saturating anything that still had an ounce of dryness. Dust grunted, crouched low in his saddle as the wind threatened to tear him off. It whistled ferociously, tugging at his hood. The rain kept getting into his sockets, hitting his eyelights and forcing them to fuzz up. Fuck, he could barely see anything. One of his gloved hands pressed down on the scaled dragon beneath him, feeling the heavy fatigue that had begun to set in.

There was a fizzing, static-like feeling in the air that told of much more lighting to come. His brows furrowed.

This hurricane was Skulks element– lighting, thunder, high-speed winds– and just short of his own element, too.

But when you were several thousand– or more– feet off of the ground, your alignment didn’t mean shit.

“DUST!” He heard a friend of his give a warning shout.

It was too late.

Cross and Axe shouting. 

Impact. 

Killer crying out. 

Falling. 

Weightlessness. 

Fear.

N o t h i   n   g–

--

You carefully crept closer, furrowing your brows as you noticed the tears and gashes in the rider’s clothing. Were they in a battle before they got here? It would explain the reckless decision to be out in a hurricane such as this. You shifted your feet, placing a hand on the wet, slippery grass beneath you. Cautiously, you lent over the rider’s covered head– grimacing when you realised they were lying at an odd angle that likely meant they’d broken something– before carefully pulling their hood away from their face. You felt your wings partially flare as your eyes widened. “A monster?” You murmured.