alex fitzalan. he/him. male. ›spotted at the met steps , jasper “duke” salvo , most likely listening to saints of the sinners by the faim with their airpods pro . the twenty five gained quite a reputation , known to be -temperamental yet +loyal to anyone who knows them . you'll easily spot them when you hear about smoothly delivered excuses, obnoxiously patterned socks and ties, a permanent smirk, the sound of ice clanking around a cocktail glass , followed by dior sauvage mixed with a lingering waft of the morning’s espresso . latest nepoupdates article talks about how they broke into and trashed their ex’s apartment , but i guess any reputation is good reputation .
TLDR: Duke Salvo, synonymous with snake, player, and trickster. A sales director at his parents’ company, he lives life like everyday is a party. Consequences? Never heard of em.
Drugs TW, Alcohol TW
Is it possible to have a head start on life before you’re even a concept in your parents’ mind? That’s what Jasper had in his hand. The third child of Nicholas and Amarie Salvo (nee Windsor, in his mother’s case) – success was a given, and the money was always raining down. Jasper’s fully convinced that Windsor, his mother’s surname links them to the royal family… Doubtful, but he goes with it.
Together his parents founded the Apeti Restaurant Group. A restaurant collection and consulting service that worked alongside hotels. All it took was becoming the flagship restaurant team for a couple of major hotels over in the City, and they were off. Money was always flowing in and their business was ready to go. They flew around the world, bringing their creative minds and menus to everything from boutique hotels to large conference centers.
Eventually, they decided to settle down in Ridgefield. A suburb about an hour from New York City proper and filled with other successful families who wanted to be close to the city without being right inside of it. Oh, and it was one of the wealthiest towns in the country. No big deal. They wanted a family for selfish reasons – to keep their name and their dream alive. To prepare their heirs to take over the company – as antiquated as that was.
Being the youngest, and the only boy, he was given what little energy his parents had to devote to actually being well.. parents. They coddled him, showered him with compliments, treated him like he was the future of the Salvo family and Apeti empire… To say it gave him an ego was an understatement.
Jasper’s older siblings, Flora and Chloe, both want nothing to do with the business. They didn’t want to live in the shadow of something that was created for them. Flora fled to the West Coast, and Chloe to give entire being to academia. Jasper didn’t pay much attention to what she was studying, only knew it was way out of his league.
So once he was old enough, the path was basically picked out for him. Business school or bust. Luckily, his grades (and the money that came along with his enrollment) got him into the business program at Cornell University.
And of course, he took college for all it gave him – parties, sex, drugs. You name it… not a lot of learning business, but time learning other things.
It was where he picked up on the tricks of acting like you knew what you were doing, the power of a smile and a pretty face. The power of playing the game. He’d seen it in action with his parents. You could get whatever you want if you threw a smile and some big words on…so that became his calling. Getting everything he wanted without working for it. Did he deserve the opportunity? Probably not. Was he good at it? Absolutely.
Now, Jasper wasn’t exactly mean. He was cunning, a bit of a player, but he didn’t get by with backstabbing. He got by with genuine compliments and kind words – overdoing them to a point it was saccharine, but they were real.
That was where the “Duke” nickname came from. Somewhere between his first days at Cornell and his position as a center forward on the soccer team, he realized that he liked power. He liked how he was treated when people saw him as in power… So he pulled in that good ole Windsor name and picked out a nickname that was royal and important. Plus it sounded cool, and people accepted it.
Unfortunately, with the little wins came the bad. Jasper got power hungry. He realized that just as easily as he could get by with the truth, he could get by with a loophole. They weren’t lies, but they weren’t real… and it was his chance to live the little rebellion that every rich kid wanted.
Gambling, joy rides, bets… He picked up on the con-artist life. It gave him a rush and in his mind, it was harmless. Sure, people could lose money. But no one got hurt… that much.
After graduation, his way with words and pretty face spelled out one clear path: sales. Winning contracts and bids like no other for his parent’s company. Because why bother applying anywhere when you have a job set up for you? They put him high up in the ranks from day one, and he’s now the Sales Manager for Apeti. Does he work hard? Not much, but his office is pretty sweet.
Headcanons:
“Duke” is Jasper’s nickname due to an heir of self-importance. The moniker, chosen by himself, alludes to royalty and the dominance that he thinks he has over his friends and his coworkers. He’s always thought of himself as the crème de la crème, and there’s nothing that can change his mind. Does that mean that he thinks he deserves more than he has? Absolutely. If he could get people to bow and kiss at his feet, he absolutely would.
Jasper has a temper underneath everything. He’s so used to winning people over, being the best of the best, so on and so forth, that when he hits a wall – he cracks (the occasional lines and pills don’t help either – but that’s business, baby!).
He’s a bit of a snake and con. He doesn’t do it enough to get himself in trouble, but he isn’t afraid to find those little loopholes and bend them large enough until he’s able to crawl through. Making a bet to get some extra drinks but playing with a stacked deck of cards. “Stealing” but justifying it by saying he’ll bring it back eventually. Saying things that sound one way but have a hidden meaning. It’s why he threw in a philosophy minor – only instead of learning morality, it was all amorality. Besides, what’s life without breaking the rules?
He’s quiet about it, but due to his family’s industry, he grew up knowing how to cook and how to cook well. It’s on the down low because he doesn’t want to get himself wrapped up in being the go to cook.
He’s got a thing for watches and cuff links, both shiny and overly expensive objects that he’s amassed a collection of… how he gets them? Well, he’ll never tell.
Like any good future business bro, he likes showing off his personality with brightly printed and patterned socks and ties, and the occasional goofy short-sleeved collared shirt.
“ no , it really wasn’t ! it was almost sweet — do you know how rare it is to place duke salvo and sweet in the same sentence ? ” josie’s props her phone up once again , hitting the record button , hoping he’d finally repeat himself . but what comes next brings a sigh out of lips , making a show of rolling her eyes when tossing the phone on his couch . “ your hair always looks nice , so i’ll give you that , but way to ruin the moment ! ”
"Hey, I'm super sweet. Probably the sweetest guy you know. Duke Salvo, America's sweetheart." Duke grinned, cheesy, trying to put on his best attempt at an innocent puppy style face. "What did I ruin? Nothing. Your hair looks nice most of the time too, Josie. I guess." He went back to the meal, "Can you grab plates?"
"Your parents are going to lose their shit when they see your junk on TV. It won't be too bad seeing as how they'd have to use a magnifying glass to find anything," he laughed before pouring two glasses for the both of them. Duke Salvo making an ass out of himself wasn't unheard of, but Tomas couldn't pass up on the off chance that it could happen on live television. "Hey, do me a favour and keep my phone for later. Gemma's going to kill me if I leave her another drunk voicemail."
"Good thing they don't watch sports." That wasn't true. Nicholas loved a good soccer game, but basketball, not their scene. Duke rolled his eyes, "You know, jealousy doesn't look good on you, Tomas. Gives you that line on your forehead." He reached over to take the glass, sipping it, "Yeah? What's going on with that whole thing?"
“do you mean … looking at you?" she supposes she should’ve seen this coming. rosalind bishop’s eyes. in the same way the reporters often asked celebrities about their style, her eyes seem to never escape the topic, either. leans back in her chair, glass pressed against red lips before pulling away, brows scrunching at the question. "is anyone perfectly fine?” way to get existential, rosalind.
"God, what are you trying to get out of me this time, Ros?" He'd been more of an open book with her than most, finding it easy. A little game of give and take, but it was Duke. He was fickle. He'd give until he got to take what he wanted, then go back to his high and mighty attitude.
offense is written on her features, turning to face her friend with a slightly wrinkled nose at his words. “ what the fuck's wrong with my idea ? it's the perfect balance of salty, and savory, and possibly sour depending on the pickle. don't act all high and mighty, it could be lifechanging but you're refusing. ”
"Because it just doesn't make sense with the brine..." Duke trailed off, trying to ignore the fact that Franny's logic was completely right. Salty, sweet, crunchy. "Lifechanging? Fine. I'll try it... What are you willing to bet on?" Couldn't resist. "Fifty bucks it's gonna be terrible?"
Vienna was making her way through the hotel lobby when she'd spotted him. She had every right to be there seeing how her father owned it, but she didn't have a clue why he was there. If their families were going into business, Vienna had half a mind to move to another country altogether.
"Vienna." Voice stayed steady, too steady, really. Lacking any emotion except the slight raise of an eyebrow. "What a lovely surprise." Not at all. Of course, the Salvos were apt to continue to build their restaurant empire. And his mom loved hotels. They were a place to exude elegance, with an ever steady customer base. Win win. "So you gonna say anything or just stare at me? I wouldn't really blame you."
" why would you care , stupid jerkface with your stupid jerkface perfect looking hair and ... " and takes straw stirrer out to throw at him , but can't even finish sentence , eyes watering and bottom lip trembling . small , black straw falls to bartop ; scrubs at their eyes before anything close to tears can fall , sniffles . how long have they been here for ? they're not sure . " it doesn't matter . people are dumb . i'm gonna grow up with my 50 cats and be single forever because people are stinky and mean . "
God. Duke didn't know what it was like to have a little sibling - only how to be the little sibling - and this was tiptoeing on his nerves. But he managed to reign in the rage, "Hey, don't fucking throw things at me. I didn't do anything." A sigh. A longer sigh, "Okay, can you actually tell me what happened? If ya don't, I'm gonna walk away."
she looks confused by the question, unsure why there was any assumption that she wasn't alright. this was usually her train of thought : constantly all over the place. " yeah? why wouldn't i be? ... am i bleeding or something? " it wasn't hard to imagine, she tended to randomly injure herself ; never one for having good luck.
"Because it has nothing to do with anything." For all the chaos and temper that Duke brought, being spontaneous when it wasn't serving him was a tough sell. "You could be." He reached over to grab his coffee from the counter, "That one yours?" No move to pass it to her, only a note that it was there.
"Did you read the article? Think I did one hell of an interview." All his interviews were great. He could sell water to a fish. And of course, that was what he was assuming Elias was talking about
"The Knicks are taking this one, man. I was being nice with the $500, but fine," he said, looking out over the players huddled together during a time out. "$500 and loser has to streak across the court." Tomas didn't think that Duke would actually follow through on his bet if he lost, but he did like the idea of making the guy sweat. "You'll regret saying that when I end up crashing on your couch tonight."
Even after having a minute to think about it, it hurt betting against them, but if he looked hard enough, one of the players on the Knicks was limping... or was Duke just trying to see things to make his chances better? "Deal." Tomas never said when, and Duke was gonna keep that loophole in his back pocket. "My apartment's amazing, so what's the problem?"
"Wow, yeah, thanks for keeping track of the time for me, A. It has been a while." Duke nearly rolled his eyes. It was odd, watching a fallen friendship come back into your life constantly, but it was Duke. He wasn't exactly the best at maintaining relationships, so instead, he'd lace his words with sickly sweet tones. Acting as if everything was intentional. "Are we neighbors now?" Head nodded towards the building the other came from.
location : anywhere indoors
status : open to all ( @nepofmstarters )
nursing a hangover, glasses are covering their eyes, shading the bright sun from their gaze but that's not stopping the throbbing in their temples. taking a hearty sip of the steaming coffee, they finally look towards their company. “ must you talk so loud ? my head is going to explode. ”
"There's only one solution to that." Patting around his pocket, Duke produced a flask, sliding it over, watching it spin across the table, "Don't let it fall, c'mon."
"Oh c'mon, Josie, it wasn't that bad, get over it." Duke didn't usually backtrack on what he said, just tried to manipulate the reception or the circumstance. "My hair looks great today, so you're welcome to immortalize it anyway."
" you know what i never understand? how come it's always overwhelmed or superstitious? what if i'm just whelmed or a little stitious? there should be something for just an average feeling instead , someone should get on that. " @nepofmstarters
"You good?" The wayward thoughts or wandering mind was something that Duke Salvo had never really experienced... Unless he was under the influence of something (or many somethings) else. So in this state, the response was deadpan confusion.
The game was in its second quarter, but Tomas had barely noticed. The Knicks were fine. Really, he was just looking for an excuse to hang out in one of private suites. As much as he wanted to sit courtside, he couldn't bear the idea of showing up on the jumbotron with a busted nose. The other assholes he invited complained that they were missing out, but they had no problem drinking all of his alcohol and running up his tab. He was quietly grateful that Duke was nice enough to show up and keep him sane. "Okay, bet: $500 on the Knicks. Oh, and you pay for drinks at the afterparty. I heard one of the guys on the team booked out a lounge for the night."
Glancing over at his name, a laugh easily sounded. "That's a weak bet. Only $500? Wait, are you betting for or against them?" Another sip of his drink - perks of watching from the box. The New Yorker in him hated betting against them... but the promise of maybe winning was enough. "Yeah? And we're going." Not a question, a statement. A confirmation
a genuine scowl at the other's words : knows not if it's because head is pounding or because he reeks of something they can't quite place their finger on . " sorry i didn't get something to your liking . next time i order i'll make sure to keep the random man at the bar in mind . " scowl only deepens AFTER he downs the drink and then takes a crack at her drink . " i already had three of those drinks , jerkface . so WHAT if i had a shirley temple ? " and eyes are still watering , " maybe i'll have another one , stinky jerkface . "
Stinky jerkface. That really showed him. It was enough for another eye roll, but expression softened (barely) when he looked over at her face. Noticing the eyes. Duke was an ass, but he grew up with sisters, he wasn't completely blind to picking up on the cues hidden behind the words. "What's going on?"
there's a moment of pause from lulu . oddly quiet , pushing cherry around in glass with black stirring straw . eyes flicker to the other , and shakes her head , pushing full glass of clear liquid toward the other ( user beware : vodka does not taste like water despite the way it looks . ) as she shrugs . " you look like you ... need it more than me . " party of three identical glasses sit around the short one that has cherry in it . " bottoms up . on me . " ** // @jaspersalvo !!
“You mean my sullen look of mystery doesn’t look flirty to you? Wow, I’m heartbroken,” Duke reached over to take the glass anyway, swirling it slightly before sniffing at it. “God, did you get a glass straight full of bottom shelf stuff? You know there’s actually quality vodka to sip.” He sighed, “Bottoms up...” It was Duke. A kid practically raised in bars and restaurants, despite his whining about it, he shot back the cup with ease. “What are you drinking anyways? A shirley temple?”
