Chapter Text
You didn’t know him. He was here ‘cause he was visiting your friend’s big brother, but had you ever seen him before? Not quite. And yet here he was, looking at you in that sort of way and trying a little too hard to make a conversation.
“I play guitar you know?” he said, raising an eyebrow and taking a cheeto to his mouth.
“Uh huh.” You responded, showing clearly that you were not interested at all.
“I’m actually really good at it. I’d like to show you some time.” He said as he chewed the cheeto and swallowed it. Show you some time? Show you some time? Dude, you didn’t even know this guy’s name!
“Right.” You responded looking away and taking a peek up the staircase. Where the hell was Karkat? And his brother? Why were they taking so long?
“You know? You’re pretty swell. I like you.” He said and his words managed to drag your attention to him against your wishes. You stared at him, uninterested and annoyed, but he seemed to overlook that expression completely. He stared back at you with what he deemed a seductive smile, resting his chin on the palm of his hand.
“What’s your name again?” he asked you.
“It’s John.” You said and turned away to the staircase again. You were debating getting up and going to the bathroom or something.
“Johnny boy…” he said with a little chuckle and you huffed, trying your best to ignore him, “Will you let me take you out sometime?”
“Dude, I don’t even know your name.” You finally said wrinkling your nose and glaring at him.
“Well, why don’t you ask me?” he said and chuckled again, like, how did you not think of something so obvious? “It’s Cronus.”
“Yes, well, I didn’t actually care about it. I was just saying that we don’t know each other at all.”
“That’s why we should go out some time! To get to know each other.”
Was this guy for real? Like for fucking real?
You sighed growling a bit and rolled your eyes. Now you weren’t even bothering trying to hide how annoyed you felt.
“What do ya say, chief?”
“If I say okay, will you stop talking to me?” you said frowning and grabbing a cheeto and munching on it angrily.
“Deal.” He said with the biggest, dorkiest smile you’ve ever seen.
“Ok, fine!” you said and his smile widened.
“Awesome.”
Lucky for you, Karkat and Kankri came back to the living room, arguing over losing a movie they wanted to watch. Apparently Karkat had lent it and never got it back.
The Cronus guy, true to his word, didn't talk to you again. You guys ended up watching another movie, which was kind of okay, one of Karkat’s rom-coms. That guy just sat next to Kankri the whole time, bringing him close and embracing him like a lover would. You glanced at them a few times and wondered if they were dating. Was that asshole seriously hitting on you while his boyfriend was away? It was bugging you, making you feel sort of gross.
When the first movie was over, Karkat pointed out that they had run out of chips and cheetos and stood up to get some more from the kitchen. You immediately offered yourself to help him, just to get a moment alone with him.
“Hey Karkat, can I ask you something?” you asked him with a low voice, turning to make sure Kankri or Cronus weren’t coming over.
“What?” he asked as he opened a new bag of Cheetos and emptied it on the bowl.
“Are your, um… your brother and his friend dating?”
“No, they’re not. Mr. Douchebag has asked Kankri out several times, but Kankri doesn’t want to date him. He just sees him as his best friend ‘cause they’re literally the only ones who stand each other.”
You mmmed softly and turned to look at the kitchen door once more.
“Why do you ask?” you heard Karkat ask you and you turned to him again.
“Oh, I was just curious ‘cause I see them so…close to each other.”
“Yea, Ampora does that.” He said wrinkling his nose and throwing the bag away to the trash, “I honestly don’t know why Kankri allows it, though. Kankri doesn’t like people touching him, but he seems to let Ampora do as he pleases. Maybe he’s tired of telling him to get off.”
You mmmed again, and Karkat took the bowl from the counter, starting to walk towards the door.
“Don’t mind them. If they bug you just ignore their fucking asses.” He said to you before heading back to the living room.
It wasn’t exactly bugging you, you just wanted to make sure.
Now that Karkat eased your mind a bit, you were able to enjoy the second movie Kankri had prepared, or at least the beginning of it. It was all good until you started to notice, out of the corner of your eye, that Cronus kept glancing at you. This guy, seriously! You wondered if the whole embracing Kankri thing was to call your attention, like to try to make you jealous or something. If that was the case, he needed to stop.
It was making you so awkward to the point that, as soon as the movie was over, you stood up quickly and looked at your watch.
“Oh boy, I should leave now.” You said pretending to sound worried, “Dad will be mad if I don’t get home right now.”
“It’s 9 pm, Egbert, it’s not like you’re arriving at 2 am.” Karkat growled at you, but it was quickly followed by his brother’s voice.
“Now Karkat. Your friend has to respect the rules implied by his father,” he said and you were sort of glad, “If his father told him to get home early, he must obey without excuses as he is, still, underage.”
You forced a little smile and nodded. That made you feel like a fucking brat, and you were 16 years old, for Christ’s sake. But ok, whatever.
“Exactly!” you said and Kankri turned to look at you.
“But I’m afraid I can’t keep myself from expressing my concern. How do you plan to get home, exactly?”
You felt your blood drain to your feet and before you could even separate your lips to reply, the guy behind Kankri traced a wide smile on his face and hurried to talk.
“I could take him.”
“No, no! It’s fine,” you hurried to say as well, “I-I’ll take the subway.”
Kankri raised an eyebrow and shook his head.
“No. Absolutely not. Out of the question.” He said standing up and crossing his arms over his chest, “I will not allow a minor like you to take the subway at this hour.”
“Kankri, for fuck’s sake!” Karkat interrupted him upset, “John is not fucking 5 years old, he can take the fucking subway as late as he wants!”
“Swearing, Karkat.” Kankri immediately scolded him and turned to look at you. “And I don’t care how old you are, taking the subway after sunset is dangerous.”
Your jaw dropped a bit and you were trying to think of something to say quickly, but the red-sweater boy turned to look at his friend and placed his hands gently on his chest.
“Are you sure you can take him?” he asked with a much sweeter tone, fixing his jacket a bit for him.
“Tch, of course.” The greaser-looking guy responded while shrugging with a confident smile, “I don’t mind how far we have to go.”
“Good, thanks.” Kankri said and you sighed, rolling your eyes a bit.
“There’s really no need…” you insisted but Kankri turned to you and shushed you right away.
“No more talking, you have to go. Cronus will take you home.”