Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s been a year.

It’s been a year since Noli graduated college. It’s been a year since that incident . It’s been a year since Noli’s life went downhill.

He woke up late in the morning because Noli had to work overtime, and it being a minimum-wage part-time job, Noli was sure he didn’t get any bonuses for those extra hours. Nonetheless, he didn’t sulk about that much and forced himself to get up and take a shower, still smelling like burgers after last night, but not a long shower since rent was getting higher.

A knock was at his apartment door once Noli got out of the shower. It became louder and more impatient when he tried getting dressed, putting on the same purple hoodie he had since freshman year at college (Noli didn’t have enough for clothes shopping at the moment, okay?) He stumbled across the messy floor to his door, hair still wet and still half-asleep despite the shower.

Noli checked the peephole to see who it was.

And his day just started and couldn’t get any worse.

With an annoyed sigh, Noli opened the door. There was his landlord, whatever his name was–Noli had forgotten despite him living here for one whole year now, again–crossing his arms and a large scowl on his face.

“Noli,” he said flatly and bluntly, straight to the point, “rent is due.”

Before Noli could even open his mouth, the landlord continued his rant, and something told Noli that he wasn’t happy about this, both of them, actually.

“And no, I’m not taking any excuses that you have. You’ve missed the last two payments” he continued. “I’m done, Noli. Either you have the rent now or pack your bags already.”

Noli metaphorically rolled his eyes. Ain’t no way was he getting insulted by a middle-age guy who had a receding hairline. But he dealt with this landlord for a year now, Noli knew how to stay on his good side, mostly. To get out of trouble was one of Noli’s specialties, even after College too.

“Listen, man,” Noli tried to sound sincere and apologetic, but instead, he was more tired–tired of his landlord pushing him around like this. The landlord narrowed his eyes. “I’ll have the money, I promise! I just need more time, trust.” He gave out a laugh, too awkward for both of their tastes.

Noli didn’t know his landlord’s name, but he knew what he was like. All bark but no bite, telling Noli to pack his things already but never meant it.

For example, like now.

The landlord rubbed his temples, sighing in frustration before all eyes were back at Noli again. “Fine,” he muttered out, probably tired of this situation like how he was tired of Noli. “But this is the final warning. If you miss this month's payment,” he pointed outside instead of finishing his sentence, but Noli already knew what he meant.

“Yeah, yeah,” Noli mumbled as he shut the door, hearing the landlord’s heavy footsteps as he left.

Noli sighed. This apartment was small, only containing a bedroom–which was his–a bathroom the length of a stick and width of one too, and a kitchen mixed together with a living room. Nonetheless, it was all messy. Pots and pans stacked up in the sink; the dining table with leftover, moldy take-outs and his computer, and not to mention the amount of clothes just hanging off furniture. Noli probably needed to clean up this dumpster of a place soon, but he had other things to do.

Like trying to find anything about Sev again.

He immediately sat down, the wooden chair creaking slightly, and opened his computer. He had dozens of tabs open, most on Reddit, 4Chan, and other shady websites that Noli should probably not be on, but he was desperate , okay?

Noli started off at the local new website tab, Robloxia News. They were actually live right now, with that annoying news guy who spoke like he had mashed potatoes in his mouth, but that was not what Noli was there for. Instead, he scrolled down, far down, to older articles, roughly around a year ago.

A year since that incident and his disappearance.

Ah, there was the article he was looking for.

FAMOUS HACKER’S SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE: DEAD OR ALIVE?

Noli clicked onto it, for the millionth time now. He was greeted by a photo of 007n7, his roommate, his best friend, and someone who was considered one of the best hackers in all of Robloxia. But now gone. Ever since that day.

Noli scanned through the article. He’d read it multiple times since its release to the public. In fact, probably more than a multiple times if he was honest, which he was not.

It’s been a whole year since 007n7’s disappearance. It’s been a whole year since that incident, and many people now believed him to be dead, gone like he had never existed.

Well, except for some self-proclaimed conspiracy theorists who were probably just losers hanging around their mom’s basements for a living, and Noli, who was 007n7's best friend , and roommate .

And his partner in hacking–just that. Yeah, just that.

Noli furrowed his brows. What was he doing anymore? Should he be doing something more productive like cleaning his apartment or whatever people do these days? Instead of being here and mopping about his previous friend who was gone like the wind nowadays.

007n7 left for the better, probably, away from Noli, leaving him to rot, so why was he still so attached?

Oh, right, that’s why.

Noli immediately shut his computer close and leaned further into the chair, making it wobble. He looked up at the ceiling, only to be blinded by the light.

Whatever. This was fine, totally.

Noli checked his phone. 11:30, later than he thought it was. He forced himself up, walking towards the mini-fridge and opening it to see any leftovers.

Nope, it was just empty except for two bottles of Rootbeer, but that was it.

Life really hated him.

He scrolled on his phone again. Looks like it was time to order take outs again. He scrolled over restaurants. Noli wasn’t in the mood for burgers–he’d grown somewhat tired of it after flipping burgers for every night now. Sushi? Nah, not enough to fill his empty void called stomach. Maybe some simple Chinese food? He had that yesterday.

Then, he stopped scrolling. Hands pressed at one restaurant.

Builder Brother’s Pizza.

Wasn’t that the place where Sev–erm, that guy enjoyed hacking at?

Noli suddenly had a ping of nostalgia, to the good old days when nothing sucked and everything was just right.

He remembered sitting down at his old college dorm living room, basically swallowing the whole slice down his throat after a session of tortuous classes and professors droning on non-stop.

He remembered how Sev would have the most-smug facial expression as he talked about how he’d hacked the pizza place while Noli was in class, since Sev never went to class. And remembered one time, he went along with Sev for the ride, later giggling and laughing non-stop as they walked again from the mess they had created.

Suddenly, Noli was craving pizza, so he placed an online order for one pizza and a Bloxycola (they didn’t have rootbeer unfortunately). And a notification came, claiming that his order would be ready in five minutes. This place was surely good at time management, somehow.

Noli then put on his shoes and walked out of the apartment, just going in and paying for his pizza. Nothing else.

Nothing else.

“Hi, welcome to Builder Bother’s Pizza. How can I–”

The employee trailed off, shutting his mouth close once he looked up at Noli. He wore the red uniform of the pizza place, and a name-tag with the name ‘ELLIOT’ written in black text. His expression soured, and Noli titled his head slightly.

“Um, do I know you?” He curtly asked, voice flat. Noli knew that some people still had a grudge on him, for those hacking days during college—he couldn’t necessarily have fun hacking anymore because of being stuck at a dead-end job and trying to have a roof on his head.

“You,” the employee named Elliot hissed out, grabbing on the register like his life depended on it. “I recognize you–you were with him that one time.”

Ah, perhaps a year wasn’t enough for that memory to disappear. Noli knew that for sure now.

“You mean Sev?” Noli questioned rhetorically, waving dismissively, “well, that dude’s basically gone, so there’s nothing to worry about.” He tried his best to sound casual, like Sev being missing never affected him in some way.

However, that just engendered more rage in Elliot. “Yeah, I heard about the news. Thank god he’s gone,” he scoffed out, and Noli felt his heart drop slightly–whatever anyways. “But you aren’t,” Elliot continued.

“Yeah, I’m not,” Noli plainly stated, “can’t even hack those days–hell, wait a minute.” He paused for a moment as a lightbulb popped in his head. “You’re that pizza dude!” He exclaimed, earning some unwanted attention from the customers eating in. “That one dude who always looked pissed whenever Sev and I came over!”

“Wow, you finally noticed?” Elliot–or ‘that pizza dude’ as Noli knew him by–said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.

“Hey, it’s been a year,” Noli shrugged. “I graduated college, and things have been shit. Don’t blame me.”

“And one of the most peaceful years in my whole life,” Elliot countered out, gritting his teeth. “I finally didn’t have to pick up your guys' mess again.” Noli rolled his eyes–every minimum wage worker was ever so dramatic. “Actually, weren’t you blacklisted here? I made sure of that.”

“You only blacklisted Sev,” Noli corrected, “and I’m here for my pizza, so hurry up before I leave a one-star review!”

“Maybe I should blacklist you now then,” Elliot muttered under his breath, but enough for Noli to hear.

Well, too bad, I haven’t done anything wrong , Noli thought bitterly in his mind, yet . Just what was this guy’s problem, so aggressive for something that happened a year ago. Just let it go already.

Yeah, just let it go.

Elliot tapped on the register, beeping sounds loud and clear, before he looked up at Noli again, his blue eyes glaring at Noli bitterly. “Ordered online or here?” He spat out begrudgingly.

“It’s pretty clear that I ordered online,” Noli sounded a bit rude, but that wasn’t his fault! This pizza guy started it first, not him!

The worker rolled his eyes, muttering something that Noli finally couldn’t hear. “Order number?”

“007,” Noli quickly replied, earning a fast glare from Elliot. “What? That’s my order number, isn’t that what you wanted?” He snapped, putting his hands in his hoodie pockets, eyes narrowing and a frown on his face now.

“Your order is 12 robux,” Elliot chose to ignore him, a good choice on his part. Noli scavenged through his pockets for 12 robux change while he was sure that he also paid online–luckily, he had the money and handed it over to Elliot, who vehemently grabbed the robux, and Noli shot him a sour look.

Elliot placed the robux in the register, no extra change for Noli, and then headed over to the back. Noli tried his best to see what was back there, only catching glances of a fire and someone holding a fire extinguisher. Then, Elliot quickly came back to the front, holding the pizza box and a Bloxycola in his hands, but his hair was messy now, and the hint smell of fire lingered on him.

“Having fun back there?” Noli teased, a cruel smile on his face. 

Elliot rolled his eyes. “Just take your pineapple pizza and get out of here,” he grumbled out, voice peaking in disgust when he said the word ‘pineapple pizza’.

“Firstly, it’s called a Hawaiian pizza, actually,” Noli corrected, the smirk still on his face. Maybe he could have some fun playing around with Elliot before things get even worse for him, because, somehow, they always do. “You out of all people should know that, and, secondly, how do you not like pineapple pizza?”

“Firstly, I never said I did,” Elliot responded back, copying Noli. “I just don’t like how it tastes, and, secondly, leave before I blacklist you too.”

“You can’t do that!” Noli gasped in, feigning surprise and hurt. “I haven’t done anything wrong yet. That’s threatening a customer–you wouldn’t want a one-star review, no?”

Elliot bit his tongue. “Just get out,” he hissed out, and Noli, satisfied with this, decided it was time to finally leave.

Maybe he’d visit someday again.

He walked up the stairs to his apartment, humming a rock song to himself. Footsteps echoing through the halls. He couldn’t wait to eat this pizza by himself. What kind of person even disliked pineapple pizza? Everyone knew it was the best type of pizza there was without any arguments. Noli even argued with people online about it–those people had no taste buds! None!

Clearly, this day was better than he thought it was.

But all of that disappeared when Noli saw his landlord again.

He stopped dead in his tracks, almost dropping the pizza when he saw his landlord, basically on his way to his apartment.

What was it now? The smile Noli had was completely wiped away, replaced by a grimace. He already told the landlord that he’d pay all that rent, probably when he got his paycheck, which was not far from now. So why was he still there?

“Noli,” the landlord stated, his voice echoing through the halls. “You got noise complaints.”

Noli blinked, and his mouth opened slightly.

Noise complaints? From what? It was just him in that small apartment, and no one else. Wait–did he forget to shut down his computer again rather than just closing it? If that’s the case, maybe Noli was cooked.

“Noise complaint? From what?” He justly asked, confused.

“I thought you knew.” Sometimes, Noli wondered if his landlord was secretly an elementary student in disguise behind that receding hairline of his. No. Of course he didn’t know. He just got pizza for Telamon’s sake. He was gone! “But I’ve been getting complaints from others about a sobbing noise coming near your apartment.”

Sobbing? What the hell was actually happening?

“Um, what?” Noli could only say those words, dumbfounded by this whole situation.

His landlord shrugged casually. “You better not be doing anything illegal in my apartment,” he warned, and Noli tried his best not to roll his eyes. No, he was secretly running a drug dealing circle in that apartment–now that he thought of it, maybe he should…..

“Just go check it out,” his landlord said before walking away, like nothing mattered.

Geez, that guy was such a weirdo. Noli mumbled a few curse words under his breath. He sure needed to get out of here soon, away from that dumbass of a landlord. What sobbing noises? Noli lived alone.

Whatever. Noli walked to his apartment room, searching his pockets for keys and not looking at the ground. It was probably just another apartment, and that landlord somehow got it messed up.

Then, a sob .

Noli stopped everything he was doing. Another sob, a soft yet childlike one, one that a baby would make.

He froze in place. Another sob, almost a full on cry now.

And slowly and terrified, Noli’s eyes looked down at the ground, where his doormat was.

But there was something else on that doormat.

A fucking baby .

Not just any baby, but a baby wrapped in a blanket like a burrito, only his face showing. Red. Like not from crying or anything, just red.

“What the–”

Before Noli could finish, the baby full on started crying , shirking loudly to the point where the whole floor could probably hear it. Noli winced, and he was sure his eardrums would never recover from the hellish screams of this baby.

“Geez–god!” He shouted, but the baby was too loud. Noli dropped the pizza box, but every slice remained inside. Good god, he didn’t need his day to be more ruined. Quickly, Noli grabbed the baby, who was in a full baby tantrum, or whatever the baby did.

He slid one hand underneath the baby’s neck and head, holding it up, and the other at the bottom, but the baby. Kept. On. Moving. That made Noli’s job harder than it already was.

“Hey, hey, little guy!” He tried to coo, his mind still trying to process what was happening and why him. “Don’t worry! It’s gonna be okay!”

That didn’t work. The baby just screamed louder and louder, trying to wobble out of the blanket burrito he was in, kicking Noli in the face trying to do so.

Noli bit his lips. He turned around and saw one of his neighbors, the one that liked to do yoga in five in the fucking morning, staring at him, judging him even.

God dang it. He didn’t need more eyes on him while he had this thing to worry about. What if she thought Noli had kidnapped this kid? They haven’t been on the best of terms ever since she and Noli got into an argument about her morning yoga sessions.

“Um, nothing to worry about, Stacy!” Noli assured, pretending like there wasn’t a kicking baby in his hands. Heck, was her name even Stacy? “Just continue on with your morning yoga sessions. Do those warriors pose for me, okay?”

He laughed awkwardly as he tried opening the door to his apartment, which was harder if you had a screaming baby in your hands. Noli didn’t even know what he was doing anymore, just that he, somehow, got a literal baby in his hands.

Luckily, he opened the door, quickly walked in. Meeting ‘Stacy’s’ eyes for the last time before slamming the door shut.

So that's what the noise complaints were talking about. Noli huffed, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

He looked down at the baby again, who, for some reason, finally shut up all of a sudden. Their eyes met, and the baby acted like he wasn’t just screaming out his lungs a few seconds ago, grabbing hold of Noli’s face and playing around with it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, there buckaroo,” Noli pulled the baby away from his face as possible, but that didn’t work, only letting more tears come onto the baby’s face, threatening to spill and scream again if he didn’t get what he wanted.

Just how entitled was this kid? Noli sighed and begrudgingly, for the sake of no more ear-killing screams, let the baby touch his face again. The tiny, warm red hands grabbed a hold of his cheeks, and Noli was sure his cheeks were becoming red like this baby was.

“I’ve never seen a red robloxian like you before, kid,” Noli stated. “And trust me, I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff before.” Oh, who was he talking to? The literal kid? Noli was sure he didn’t even understand whatever he was trying to say.

And just what was he doing with a baby who was dumped on his doormat a few seconds ago? For god sake, Noli was a college graduate with one minimum-wage part-time job for a living, and that wasn’t even enough for bills. Let alone a whole kid!

He probably needed to drop him off at an adoption center or something like that–no, he needed to. Noli had no interest in having kids–they were too much for someone with a life-style like Noli’s. Too much to take care of and too much to worry about.

That settled it, huh. He’d drop this baby off at the local adoption center, hopefully tomorrow or preferably earlier than that.

But as the baby reached for more of his face, the blanket burrito unwrapped.

And a letter dropped out from it.

Noli held the baby up with one hand–the other to pick up the fallen letter. It wasn’t much, really. Just a loose piece of paper and words that were written with ink but teardrops smudged them, making it harder to read.

Good thing Noli has read worse handwriting than this one. Sev– his handwriting was completely worse than whoever wrote this. So Noli began to read, or tried to.

To whoever finds this. Thank you very much for taking care of my son.

Okay, Noli wasn’t necessary taking care of this kid. But he continued reading.

I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted to give away my own son, but things just had to happen for the worse. But I have no say in this–it’s either give up the baby or leave, and I can’t.

Noli scrunched his nose, hissing slightly as the baby grabbed his cheeks with harder force this time–why in a world did this baby have such a grip?

My son…well your son now has a skin condition. That’s why I had to give him up, or else he would, and I couldn’t let that happen.

Well that explained why he was so red. Noli scanned the letter, most being heartache messages about why he was given up. Blah, blah.

I can’t express my gratitude enough for you taking care of him while I couldn’t, while I failed. Thank you so much for giving my son a better future than he could’ve had while being with me. Please take care of him. Protect him from anything or anyone. Treat him with the love that I could never give him. Love him.

The letter had no signature, so Noli crumbled it up and threw it to the ground.

Protect him. Treat him with love. Love this baby huh?

Hell, Noli was just a washed up guy–a loser even. He wasn’t ready to take care of the baby! Nor was he ever! He wasn’t stable enough to do so. So why him?

He turned to look at the baby again. This time, he was giggling, his red skin shining due to the light. Laughing like this wasn’t hard. Hard for him that his mother right straight up abandoned him. Hard for Noli who wasn’t capable of taking care of a child in any way.

Hard for the both of them.

Noli sighed. He walked to the dining table and sat in his usual seat. With the baby in one of his hands, the other opened his computer again. Instead of going to a tab he already had, he opened up a new tab and started typing, slowly because of the moving baby in one arm. But when he was finished, the search bard read:

How to take care of a baby.

Noli furrowed his brows, quickly adding something.

How to take care of a baby….at least for a little while.

It was going to be a while. Noli had to give the baby up to the adoption center tomorrow. He couldn’t do this (couldn’t or wouldn’t , a voice in the part of his mind asked, but he ignored it). He wasn’t able to.

It was just for a while.

Right?

Chapter Text

Step one: feed your little one

“Yeah, about tonight, you see, I don’t think I can make it tonight.”

Noli explained, his phone on his shoulder as he bent down looking for food, or anything a baby could eat. He scanned the shelves, empty like before, like always, just two lonely bottles of root beer on the shelves. He sighed to himself, quietly though, not wanting his boss to hear and assume that was to him, closing the refrigerator door. Maybe he should go grocery shopping soon, now that there was another living in Noli’s house (even if it’s for only a night).

“What do you mean by that?” His boss asked on the phone, his voice grumpy and gruff like always, typical for a guy who owned a fast-food restaurant. Noli often joked that he was just Mr Krabs, which only earned a glare from the big man himself.

“I can’t make it tonight, to the shift,” Noli replied clearly into the phone. He grabbed one of the remaining root beers and opened it instantly, taking a long slip. The mixture between a sweet, herbal favor and sugar hit his tongue immediately, calming him down if just slightly.

Unfortunately, his boss just had to ruin it.

“That can't be done,” he commented. “We’re understaffed tonight, Noli.”

Noli’s eyes twitched. The hell he meant ‘understaffed’? They were a literal fast-food burger restaurant, and Noli was only a part-time worker. He could’ve totally pulled strings and grabbed another employee rather than bluntly lie.

“Well, I’m sorry,” Noli spat on the phone, sounding more irritated than he hoped. “Things just….came up all the sudden, okay?”

“What kind of ‘things’?”

Noli turned to glance at the baby, who–thank god–finally calmed down and was on his computer, giggling and throwing his hands around playfully, watching Cocomelon or whatever kids watched these days.

“Family things,” he lied, focusing his attention on the phone call again.

“Strange, you never talk about your–”

“Well, grandpa just died, so I got to say my goodbyes to my dad,” Noli interjected. 

One good thing about taking theater for your whole life was that you sounded very convincing when you needed to, and now Noli was playing the part of a distorted, grieving son. 

“Everyone’s been in such chaos ! Bombing the family group chat with bible verses, you know how it is. And the funeral’s today.” He feigned a sob–Noli hasn’t been in any family group chats since the beginning of college, kicked out of them (not that he was complaining—the bible verses were getting annoying)

“Oh,” it seems like his plan worked because his boss’s voice dropped. “Sorry about your loss, Noli,” he added sympathetically. “Hope everything goes while at the funeral. You can get the night off then.”

He immediately ended the call right there. And, rather childishly, Noli started throwing his hands up and punching the air, even giving a few cheerful whoops ! He never liked working there in the first place, so this felt like an ultimate win. 

Until he saw the baby, now looking at him with a soured face, nose scrunching up and his tongue sticking out in disgust.

“What? Don’t look at me like that!” Noli defended himself, sticking out his own tongue as well. “If you worked there, you wouldn’t like it either.”

The kid, now uninterested, goes back to watching Cocomelon. Oh, who was Noli kidding! Next thing you know, he might just beef with this literal toddler.

He scoffed, heading back to finding food for this kid. Even if it was only for one day, he wasn’t going to let this kid starve–too much legal trouble doing so. And Noli has heard from past college friends, who were unlucky to have a kid, of taking care of babies. Those stories always left a shiver down his spine.

But, now, he was living through those stories….even for a little bit.

Noli tried searching the fridge for any crumb of food left—did babies even eat food? Noli wasn’t willing to share his fresh pizza with this kid, yet. Didn’t they drink milk or something like that? Too bad he didn’t have any milk, only root beer. Close enough, right?

“Hey, kid,” Noli said, and the baby would understand and would talk back to him. “You think you can drink this bottle of root beer. I’ll give you ten bucks if you do.” He sat down next to the kid, pushing the open bottle of root beer to him.

The kid, ever so entitled, wrinkled his nose and blew another raspberry at the bottle and at Noli, who feigned offense by gasping.

“Rude very much.Root beer is, like, the best drink there is, even better than water, mind you!” He sighed out, voice turning low and weary. If the kid didn’t want the root beer, then he’d take it, the bottle already half-empty.

But that didn’t change the fact the kid still needed to eat. That was step one of the Wikihow instructions! (which popped up when he searched up ‘ how to take care of a baby ’, by the way) And Noli was sure this kid couldn’t eat solid food, being roughly a few months old in his estimations—babies didn’t eat solid food ‘till when again? Noli, to be frank, hasn't given much thought to it until now, when he actually needed to take care of one.

Maybe he could put it in a blender? Mix the pizza in with some root beer. Worse than milk but it could totally work.

That’s if he even owned a blender–which he didn't–and the sound of root beer mixed together with pizza sounded gross even to him, and this was the guy who lived off microwaved ramen and root beer for his college life. 

Noli groaned dramatically, but the baby was too invested in whatever the fuck to even stare at him. Great, he was already failing step one in taking care of a child. Give yourself a pat on the back, Noli!

He checked his phone again. Nothing really, just some raged-filled and confused texts from his boss for ending the phone call that soon. 

Well, he did say he needed to go grocery shopping sometime soon.

“Okay, kid, enough Cocomelon. We’re going to have a little trip” Noli stated as he turned-off the computer, earning a frown from the baby. “Wha–don’t look at me like that! You need food and so do I, so it’s for the better, okay?”

The baby crossed his arms together, sticking out his arm, and Noli sighed. This was going to be ‘fun’.

— — —

Honestly, Noli would’ve just left this baby back at the apartment, he’s seen those tantrums kids throw at the grocery store. He’s seen those tired eyes mothers have while calming their children now. Heck, he’d even found it funny a few times. But Noli didn’t want to get another ‘noise complaint’ from those people he called neighbors (and assholes) and didn’t want to risk it.

So here he was, pulling a shopping cart while this baby sat in it, eyes flickering with curiosity as he moved down aisles. He kicked his little feet and giggled when grabbing unnecessary things into the shopping cart.

“Nope, we don’t need that,” he said to himself as he grabbed a box of mac-and-cheese from the baby’s hands, and the baby, in return, gave a babble of protest, stretching his hands to grab the box back, but Noli already placed it back.

 “You’re a very grabby baby, aren’t you?” Noli joked slightly, letting out a chuckle, genuine but tired. The baby puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms, a sign that Noli now knew meant the baby was angry. If it wasn’t for the grabby-ness and entitlement of this baby, Noli would’ve said that he was adorable.

Wait–what was he thinking? He immediately shoved that thought to the back of his mind, sighing to himself. It was just for a while. Noli wouldn’t and couldn’t take care of this baby due to how ass his life was right now. It was just for a while! Until Noli found someone else, someone who could actually take care of this kid. Not long, so he better not get attached.

Yeah, he better not.

Something that Noli saw was how everyone turned to look at him as he entered another aisle. They always had a prolonged glare at Noli, who was just trying to get some grocery shopping done, face filled with disappointment or—if not both—suspicison. One kid even, hands tugging at their mommy’s skirt, whispered something in which the mother replied with a scolding in a harsh voice that Noli couldn’t hear despite nonetheless knowing, rolling his eyes dramatically and perhaps in petty annoyance.

So what if they were staring? Noli always liked having attention, being on the stage as an important actor. It’s what he does the most. However, this attention felt…different but still familiar. He once felt it during college, when he was busy hacking with Se–erm, that dude, and the glares from his victims just made it more fun. The way others would look at him in fear after another hacking prank from them . He found it fun. Enjoyable.

But nothing was enjoyable about this. Nothing. Noli was now a fresh out of college guy who cycled through two hoodies. He couldn’t hack anymore (blame them for it). His ex–‘best friend’ was better off being dead than being here with him. He struggled financially with that dead-end part-time job at a stupid fast-food place. And, the icing on top? Someone had the audacity to drop a baby on his doormat, another responsibility for Noli to take care of (even for a little bit) and Noli did not like responsibilities. Never did and never would.

Just when he thought life couldn’t possibly get worse. The Robloxian gods just hated him that much, huh? (What did he do to even deserve it? Sure he hacked, but that wasn’t anything harmful!....Right?)

To say Noli was pissed about this would be an understandment—he usually never got pissed or angry, but when he did, you could bet whoever–or whatever–pissed him off went home crying to their mommy.

He was at the frozen food selection, eyes scanning through the multiple flavors of ice cream. Vanilla. Chocolate. Strawberries. You named it. He looked down for a moment, meeting the eyes of a curious and interested baby.

“What? You like what you see?” The baby nodded rapidly at the statement, and Noli couldn’t help but laugh. It was just cute, really.

He then looked at what’s actually inside the cart, filled with microwaveable pizzas, ramens, and boxes of sodas for himself and the baby (babies could eat ramen, right? Noli shrugged at that thought. It’s been a long time since he was a kid himself, okay? Don’t blame him!). A little too much, really, and he wasn’t even sure himself if he could afford all of this, being on a short budget and all. But a little cold treat wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? Could babies even eat ice cream?

Whatever, screw it. Noli decided to follow what his growling stomach was saying and opened the door, cold air immediately hitting his face. He wanted to grab the black raspberry flavor, but the baby protested with a loud squeal. More eyes were on them now.

“Alright, alright!” He immediately shushed the baby. “You’re not a big fan of black raspberries, you little weirdo. What flavor do you want then?”

His hands went to the vanilla flavor, and the kid shook his head at that. They played this game for a couple of rounds–Noli pretending to grab a random flavor of ice cream while the baby either made noises of protest or stuck his tongue out as a way to say ‘no’. Then his hands handled the red velvet flavor, the baby nodding, like he was approving the flavor.

“Red velvet, huh,” he muttered to himself as he threw it in the cart. “You sure like the color red.” He, to be frank, never had red velvet flavored ice cream, probably because he knew the best flavor there was (which was black raspberries, by the way). But Noli has had his fair-sure of weird ice cream flavors, mostly due to him and his weird ice cream preferences during college.

A sharp pain rose from his chest when he thought of that. Not too much, though, but it was there alright. He should really try to forget that—it didn’t matter anymore. (right?)

 Noli’s hands tightened around the cart, knuckles white, and the baby giggled, clapping his short hands together and kicking his feet. At least one of us is happy here.

And if just right on time, he heard a voice, feminine and gentle, calling his name.

“Noli?”

Noli rolled his eyes afterwards, grumbling under his breath. Just who was it this time? Who was finally brave enough to stop staring and actually pick a bone with him. He thinned his lips, and the baby noticed and stopped kicking his feet, now head titled with a blank-expression on his baby face.

“Noli!” The voice tried again, raising their voice just by a few notches.

Noli sighed in response, his brows furrowing. He wasn’t expecting to be noticed by anything, not after what had happened the past year. He’d already broken off all contact with everyone he used to know, every friend from college and more. For the better–yeah, for the better.

“Noli! It’s—”

Noli, now feeling ever-so slightly annoyed, turned his cart the other way, facing whoever was calling him from across the grocery store. If they wanted his attention so badly, might as well feel the heat that’s called Noli! (Okay, a little cringy, he knows, but don’t scream at him for it..okay?)

“Listen, man, I think you got the wrong Noli–”

He immediately stopped talking, cutting himself off, and instead, Noli’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped a little. Because he didn’t expect to see her around here.

— — —

“So you do remember me,” she chuckled softly, but Noli could hear the tiredness hidden underneath it.

She adjusted her glasses, and, to be honest, she looked the same as she did back in college, which was a year ago but you get the point. The only thing different was how tired she looked with those eyebags underneath her eyes and the faint smile, but other than that, still the same since last year, even wearing the ice cream cone hat—ironic right now as they were in the ice cream section just the look and clothes were different.

But, nonetheless, Noli didn’t expect to see anyone from college ever again, not after what had happened senior year. And he was sure that life definitely hated him now, because if not, then it wouldn’t be doing this to do.

“Oh, heyyyyyyy,” he dragged out, gritting his teeth, shoulders tensing slightly. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here.” He laughed out awkwardly, not like his usual self.

What was her name again? It’s been only a year, but since Noli didn’t try to contact any of his old college buddies, he seemingly had forgotten much (but never him , somehow). Was it something like his name? 118-something.

“I didn’t expect you to actually remember me,” she continued on, and Noli felt like he was in a weird sitcom of some sort. Just imagine it– the Robloxian hated by life , number on banger right there, he thought sarcastically. 

“O-of course I do,” Noli scoffed out, sounding ruder than expected. His knuckles were turning lethal white holding onto the cart like that. “It’s only been a year since graduation. I’m not that old to start having Alzheimer's.” Even if it’d be nice to forget some things, Noli wanted to add, but shut his mouth before so.

She laughed quietly at the snide joke. “Yeah, yeah,” she replied with, “it already seem like a while, but it’s only been a year since–”

She cut herself off, thinning her lips and lowering her head. Noli’s eyes narrowed. Both of them, without telling the other, knew what she was going to say. But maybe it was for the best that she didn’t. Not wanting to bring him into the conversation.

(Because Noli knows, despite not knowing her name, she was also his friend, which meant she was Noli’s friend as well. Both affected by what had happened, one harder than the other.)

The baby giggled at this confrontation of two old friends, raising his arms up like he was on a roller coaster. This caught her keen attention, blinking at the baby sitting in Noli’s shopping cart.

“Y-you got a….kid now?” She pointed out, sounding surprised, and Noli understood why. Because if you were going to tell him, Noli, during college that a random baby’d be dropped on his doormat, he’d laugh at you and call you more insane than he was.

Maybe, with this, Noli was growing to be more insane than he was.

“He’s not me,” he quickly blurted out. “Well, some random idiot decided to drop him off at my apartment.” He wasn’t sure why he was telling her all of this again, but Noli just needed….someone to talk to. No matter how much he wished it wasn’t true. Someone who wasn’t a baby, that is.

She blinked at the explanation, surprised, just like how Noli expected her to be. 

“Ah, I see,” she said, looking up at Noli and the kid before looking down at his cart filled with microwaveable foods and red velvet ice cream. Noli titled his head to the side, watching as she let out an awkward laugh, both uncomfortable meeting each other after the incident.

“Those foods,” she boldly said, “are these for your–your not -kid?” There was a slight teasing to her voice, and from what Noli remembered, she was always like this, even around him and 00–that guy.

Noli shrugged. “That kid picked that flavor, red velvet, yeah I know, weird,” he said flatly, acting as if he was uninterested. “Kids can eat ice cream,right? Isn’t, like, their favorite thing in the whole world? You should know, right?”

She sighed, shaking her head. “Well, I don’t think they can eat ice cream at that age,” she looked down at the baby, who let out a joyous giggle, already liking her. “Most babies eat soft, easy to digest foods. Or at least that's what Bluudud ate when he was younger.”

Noli raised a brow, not knowing who this ‘Bluudud’ person was, and she noticed, quickly explaining.

“Bluudud! He’s my son,” she said, a hint of pride in her voice, smiling brightly rather than the tired grin she’s been giving. “Turning two this year also. It’s crazy how they grow up so fast; it was like yesterday when I saw him.” She remembered that day like the back of her hand, but immediately snapped out of it after seeing Noli’s confused face. “Ah–sorry, didn’t mean that. Mother insists, no?”

“He’s turning two, huh?” Noli unintentionally muttered out, repeating word-for-word what she’d said. “Wait,” he blurted out afterwards, eyes widening slightly. “You had a kid during college?”

“Well, no, not really,” she answered, but that just left Noli with more questions than answers, brows furrowing. “One day, after work, I came back with Bluudud on my porch, wrapped in a blanket, sobbing,” she explained, sweet memories coming back to her like it was yesterday. “Kinda like you and your kid, really.”

“Oh,” was the only thing Noli could say, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn’t know this happened to someone else, like dropping kids on someone’s porch was something normal. It felt like one of those pesky, annoying ideas the Admin had, dropping off kids at someone’s house to fix whatever problems Robloxia has right now—Noli hasn’t been keeping up with that type of news.

“Maybe one day this little fellow and Bluudud would grow up to become friends,” she commented hopefully. The kid–Noli’s (temporarily) kid–giggled more at her, even grabbing onto one of her fingers playfully. Clearly, she’d become a favorite of his.

“I doubt it,” Noli rolled his eyes secretly. This kid was going to be the death of him. “I’m only taking care of him until—”

Until what? Until Noli finally took him to an orphanage? Did Robloxia even have orphanages nowadays? (The admins were always so capricious with ideas….) But what if something bad happened to this little brat there. Something that Noli could’ve stopped if he just–

Wait. What the fuck was he thinking? Noli sometimes wanted to punch himself in his face. Was this just another reason that he should actually keep this kid?

“Until something happened," he muttered out, finishing whatever his past statement was.

Her grin softened slightly. “Ah, I see.” Maybe Noli was just out of the loop, but did he hear disappointment in her tone? Yeah, maybe he was just out of it, probably needed to check out soon.

“Does he have a name yet?” She, thankfully, changed the subject. “Not that I’m expecting anything good from you.”

“Ha-ha, very funny,” he said half-heartedly at her poor joke, earning a little laugh from her instead. “But, no,” Noli answered, “He don’t have a name…yet.”

He didn’t need a name. This brat was just going to stay with him for a while, not long enough for Noli to name him.

Yet.

She sighed and stopped playing with the baby, who blinked as the adults continued on with their conversation. “He’s surely a cool kid.”

Noli nodded slowly, almost like he didn’t believe it. “Yeah, sure.” Just wait until she saw how entitled and grabby this kid was.

“And,” she added, “he’s lucky to have someone like you taking care of him.”

Noli wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or something else, something worse, but his cheeks warmed up—wait, was he blushing? Why in the world was he, the great Noli, blushing at something like that? He scowled and scrunched up his face, not wanting her to see the blush.

“I’m not sure about that,” he mumbled out, loud enough for her to hear though, getting a soft laugh from her.

“Trust me. You’ll get it soon enough,” she said, probably from experience. “That’s how me and Bluudud were, still are ‘till this day.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Noli looked up, head darting to anywhere but looking at her. “Say! Look at the time! We better check out soon,” he finished his statement with a quick laugh, perhaps too quick.

“Oh dear,” she made a popping noise with her lips. “It is getting late–that’s what happens when you’re catching up with old friends, am I right?”

Noli nodded hesitantly. They weren’t friends, actually. She was just his friend, and Noli was his ‘best friend’ (ex-best friend at this point). They only knew each other from college because of him —goddamn it, why did everything have to do with him ? Could he quit haunting Noli for once. Was that too much to ask?

He shook his head. No, he wasn’t going to spiral like what had happened. He was totally, TOTALLY over it. Now, there were other things to focus on.

For example: taking care of this kid….for a while.

“Right,” he said dismissively; he didn’t even hear what she’d said. “It was nice to see you again…..” Noli trailed off, still not remembered her name.

“This is what happens when you haven’t seen friends in a while, eh?” She teased, earning a classic Noli eyeroll. “Enough playing around,” she finally said. “It’s 118o8, or you can call me 8o8 for short.”

Ah, so that’s what her name was. Noli knew it was something like that–heck, he even guessed the first three letters (numbers?). So he wasn’t as forgetful as you think, okay?

“Right,” he clicked his tongue. “See ya around, 8o8.” He waved goodbye as he was getting ready to leave. The baby, on the other hand, wasn’t ready to leave his favorite yet, kicking his legs in protest with babbles which sounded like a baby-language version of cursing. 

118o8 chuckled either at Noli or at the baby or maybe both. “Right, maybe we’ll keep in contact, Noli. If you need any help taking care of this kid–”

“For a little while,” Noli pointed out.

“For a little while,” she added but continued on. “Then maybe I can help you, who knows.”

“Y-you’re willing to help me?” Noli didn’t mean for that to be said out loud, but it came out naturally, with him covering his mouth theatrically afterwards. Curse that big mouth of his.

8o8, however, found this to be funny, chuckling. “Of course I would!” She happily said. “That’s what friends do, right Noli?”

They’re friends now? They’re still ‘friends’ after what had happened. After not talking to each other for god knows how long? Noli wasn’t sure anymore. He wasn’t…. ‘Friendly’ after the incident, after him , often locking himself in a mediocre loop of sleeping then working.

But if 8o8 says they’re friends, Noli guesses they are then.

Noli pressed his lips together.

“Yeah, friends,” he whispered out.

And just like that, they said their final goodbyes, the baby happily saying farewell, like he was going to see her again. And the two headed home after their eventful grocery shopping trip.

— — —

It was now night time, and after a long, and rather tortuous, evening of trying to bathe and feed the baby, he had finally fallen asleep.

Now Noli didn’t have a candle or whatever babies slept in nowadays, so the kid had to sleep on his bed, wrapped in his other purple hoodie as clothes but also as a blanket (the person didn’t necessarily give him clothes to wear, and Noli, unsurprisingly, didn’t have any clothes that would fit this kid). When he slept, he slept–well, like a baby, sucking his thumb while in his dreamland, shifting to the left side or the right side of the bed.

“Whoa, there kiddo!” Noli, who was still awake despite it being midnight already, exclaimed when the child almost fell off the bed, catching him with one hand. The baby, despite the commotion, was still, somehow, asleep, head lolling to the right.

Noli held him in his arms for a few moments, chuckling to himself. Okay, maybe when this kid wasn’t grabby or entitled, he was a little…cute–whoa, who said that? You heard nothin’. It was the wind, the wind, okay?

“Maybe, you’re not so bad after all, huh.” He couldn’t help but grin softly, which was totally unusual for someone like Noli, when he wiped off the drool coming from the kid’s open mouth, snoring softly even in his sleep. 

“Maybe you are a cool kid like what she did, eh?”

The kid snorted, or tried to snort, coming from a literal kid. Noli himself snorted at the attempt. Oh, who was he kidding again? Talking to a kid like he’d understand him. 

Noli, uncharacteristically gently, placed the kid on the bed again, underneath his actual blankets–instead of the purple hoodie–to make sure he didn’t fall off the bed again, or tried to.

He then grabbed his phone, accidentally getting flashbanged by the brightness but got over it immediately.

He had another phone call to make.

“Noli?” Somehow, his boss–yes, the same one that owned that trashy burger place–answered, still awake in the dead of night. “Aren’t you supposed to be at a funeral right now? Why are you still up?”

“Oh yeah!” Noli had totally forgotten his excuse on why he couldn’t make it together, laughing somewhat nervously. His hand ran through his hair, now disheveled from the evening. “About that, boss.”

His boss sighed loudly through the phone, being one of the many people tired of Noli’s antics. “What is it this time, Noli,” he said curtly. “Better make it quick, I don’t have all night.”

Yes, you do. All you do is spend your time in that office of yours. But Noli bit his tongue, also too tired to say something snide back.

“Well, you see,” he twirled a loose strand of hair like he was in a teenage movie as the girl. “The funeral was….postponed. I’mma need a couple more days off.”

“....No.” His boss sounded more irritated than tired now.

Dang, he’d forgotten how much his boss was an asshole, but Noli still pushed for it.

“Sorry, man. I didn’t want this either, but–” he paused, feigning sniffles and fake sobs like before. “But it’s just too much right now. They want me to stay until the funeral.” What else was he supposed to say? Some random idiot dropped a baby on my doormat, and I’m not sure what to do with him, so I’mma need a few days off. Okay? Okay. Bye . Yeah, no. His boss wouldn’t buy that.

Silence rang on the phone after Noli’s performance—that was the case until his boss sighed once again on the phone, frustration leaking from his voice, but Noli only smiled, already knowing he was going to win. Again.

“Fine. A few more days then you’re back on the shift, understand me?” His boss grumbled through the phone, and Noli could’ve given a victory whoop if he wasn’t already worn out from the evening taking care of this kid (he could be energetic if he wanted too…) “More than that and it’s coming from your pay. Get it?”

“Crystal clean! Bye, boss!” Noli, like what he’d done before, ended the call immediately afterwards. Now it was quiet again, no more grumpy old man grumbling in his ears. Old people these days….

He looked back at the bed, where the baby was still sounding asleep.

Noli threw his head back, groaning softly yet tired as ever. He hasn’t been this tired since god knows when.

“Just what in the world am I going to do with you,” he muttered under his breath and to himself. “You little brat.”

The baby turned the other side, snoring softly in response, and Noli chuckled softly.

“Maybe we do need a name for you after all…”

Chapter Text

Hello there, I don't usually make chapters like this one for reasons, but I have things to spill. As it could be pretty obviously, this chapter is not like the other two, and for reasons too. I have an unfortunately announcement to make.

This fic will be discontinuing and, however, will be rewritten in the future. I can't say when yet, but it should be coming in the future.

School was a minor reason why (I'm cooked) I felt like I could've done better with this one, and my writing here wasn't....the best in my opinion. The plot as well: I had everything (somewhat vaguely) planned out but it just wasn't working for me. I also could've done more research to help with this story. Or maybe I just bit more than I can chew. Nonetheless, this story was rather stressing me out and making me frustrated than me having fun writing it, and it bugged me, extremely, to the point where I made this decision.

But, like I said in the beginning, I do not wish to give up on this concept, this AU (since I've been plotting the lore out for a while now lolz) and will rewrite it in the future, hopefully better than what this had turned out to be. Maybe I'll try to write other stories while figuring this one out.

Thank you very much for reading those two chapters (I honestly didn't expect that 1k hits, really) This whole fic will most likely be deleted or orphaned in the few days to come. Once again, thank you.

Sorry for this, and, once again, thank you.