So World Building Week's going on over on tumblr, and today's prompt was Sandbox Characters. Somehow, it turned into this?

I wasn't even planning on writing a thing for today.

"You spend far too much time staring at Timelines!" The Observant shouted, "You are not doing your job!"

Clockwork stopped fiddling with his staff and turned slowly, one eyebrow climbing up his forehead. "It is my job to stare at Timelines."

"Evidently you're doing it wrong," The other spoke much more calmly, "The world would not be in such a state of disarray if you simply did your job."

"Evidently," Clockwork said, "You don't understand what my job is."

That, of course, was the wrong thing to say. Clockwork quit paying attention as the Observants screamed at him. It wasn't that he meant to be rude, of course, it was just that he simply could not care less about what they had to say. He was well aware of his own shortcomings; he didn't need the Observants to lecture him about them.

Unfortunately, they picked up on how little he cared and screamed louder.

Clockwork rubbed the side of his head as a headache started to form. "I don't get paid enough for this," He said.

.-.

"You are not doing your job!"

"I'm sorry," Clockwork said, not remotely apologetic, "It's extremely difficult to focus on Timelines when you're constantly here."

"That is not an excuse!" One snapped.

Clockwork raised an eyebrow, "Does that mean I'm allowed to work while you yell at me now?"

"We do not yell!" They screamed.

Clockwork pulled back, "Yes, of course, what could have ever given me that impression…"

The Observants continued on with their lecture, and Clockwork continued on with not listening.

"I don't get paid enough for this," He said.

.-.

"I don't get-"

The phrase was halfway out of his mouth when the Observants abruptly teleported away.

Clockwork blinked twice, tossed his staff from hand to hand, and quickly floated out of the room.

He was halfway down the hall when the Observants reappeared, holding a large basket. "Will this be sufficient?" They said in sync, and dumped it onto the floor.

Clockwork moved back slightly, staring at what appeared to be a pile of various currencies. Very few stacks appeared to be from the same country, let alone the same era. He could see an American penny from the year 1897, a Canadian loonie from 2047, and a stack of German marks from 1932. Clockwork floated there, trying to take in the pile of money resting on his floor, and almost missed when the Observants repeated themselves.

"We asked, will this be sufficient?"

Clockwork stared at them. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You have been saying that you 'do not get paid enough' to deal with us for nearly a century now," One Observant said.

"We've grown tired of it," The other replied.

They spoke as one when they said, "So is this enough?"

Clockwork stared at them and picked his words carefully. "I have been working for you for over a thousand years. A few hundred thousand dollars is not enough." That was likely a safe reply. It was highly unlikely that the Observants actually had anymore money.

Two more Observants appeared behind them, each levitating perhaps five hundred baskets, and dumped billions of dollars onto the floor.

"Is this enough?" They asked again.

Clockwork stared at the mountain of currency that had overtaken his hallway. Where in the world had the Observants even managed to find all this?!

"Of course it's not," One of the new Observants said, her voice plain, "Payments must be given every, oh, two weeks was it? Yes, that sounds correct." She seemed smug when she turned towards Clockwork, "We'll be back in two weeks with the same amount." She and the other Observants teleported away. Clockwork was left staring at the hallway in front of him, and the billions dollars it contained.

This… might be difficult to explain.

But, apparently, he was paid enough to deal with it.

.-.

Anyone who knew Clockwork would be quick to say that he wasn't the social type.

His interactions with others were always planned days, if not weeks, ahead. He knew exactly what he would say, what position he would take, and the result his actions would produce. There were very few exceptions to this rule; the Observants, for one, namely because they were predictable. If they were there, he was doing something wrong. And according to the Observants, he was always doing something wrong. He did, however, have to watch his tongue around them; they took his sarcastic comments far too literally.

On the other side, where Clockwork preferred to have all his actions planned out completely, was one Danny Phantom.

Who, of course, had shown up unannounced and had just started talking.

Clockwork stared at the teen as he paced in the air, not quite sure what to do. He didn't feel like being social today. He'd tried calling Danny by his full name, which he strongly disliked, to see if that would get him to leave. Danny hadn't even flinched. Honestly, Clockwork was at a complete loss. He didn't want to be rude, but between his unfinished work load and the fact that he hadn't planned for this was making him extremely uncomfortable.

Danny was talking about college. He'd gotten in to a community college, but all potential funds were currently going to pay for his sister's Ivy League tuition. Thanks to his ghost hunting Danny couldn't hold down a job, and he refused to ask Vlad for help. Apparently, he was also convinced that student loans were 'literally the devil' and didn't know what else to do.

Clockwork teleported away the moment the idea hit him. He reappeared easily in the money room- as amusing as having it all in the hallway had been, it quickly became a hazard- and found what he was looking for. He reappeared less than a minute later to see Danny, still pacing in the air.

Clockwork cleared his throat to interrupt the hybrid, and Danny turned quickly. His eyes grew wide as he stared at the stack of bills Clockwork had handed him and stared ahead, obviously hoping for an explanation.

"For your college tuition," He said, and somehow, Danny's eyes grew wider.

"Clockwork," Danny said slowly, "There has to be, like, a couple hundred grand in here."

"Ah, my apologies. That won't be enough, will it?" He teleported once again, returning with two more stacks, "American tuition is priced impossibly high. Here. No, hold on." He teleported once again, and presented Danny with the money as well as a basket full of jewels. "This should keep you quite well off for the next several years."

Danny opened and closed his mouth several times in what could have been a fantastic fish impersonation. "Clockwork," He said slowly as he set the basket off to the side, "Are you rich?"

Clockwork, who had had to quickly use his powers to stop the basket from crashing to the ground, nearly missed the question. "Hmm, I suppose so. You didn't think I worked for the Observants without compensation, did you?"

He looked back at Danny and saw that the hybrid was now staring at him, one hand propped on a fist. "So, how much do you make? Like, per year?"

Clockwork raised an eyebrow.

Thoughts?