Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

So,Fridays, if you asked someone right now about their opinions on this day of the week, you would think they would answer they like it, some would even say it’s their favorite out of the seven options. But there was one person who would answer the opposite. 007n7 hated Fridays. Of course he did, it was basically the only day he actually had to wake up early on just to go to some stupid ass class in the ass crack of the morning (8 am).

And it wasn’t like he wanted to go but if he misses one more class he will fail, because of course he would rather go out with Noli to hack the Builder Brothers’ pizza place instead, and at least then he could just talk with Noli to do it in the afternoon so he could sleep in and no one would care.

Not today though. 007n7 awoke with a groan as he heard his alarm, burying his head in his pillow and trying to drown out the annoying beeping of his phone. It was useless tho and eventually he managed to turn off the alarm.

He got out of bed, got dressed, all that jazz and tiptoed around the living room, because Noli, his roommate, was sleeping on the couch. Unfortunately they could only afford an apartment with one bedroom, but it didn’t matter how many times 007n7 told Noli he would gladly sleep on the couch and that it wouldn’t be a problem, Noli insisted that he wanted the living room.

Just before he left, he looked back at the kitchen. Sure, his stomach was empty but he was pretty much used to it. He usually either didn’t eat breakfast because he woke up around lunch time, didn’t have time before class or just… didn’t feel like eating. He never gave it much thought because maybe he felt a tiny bit guilty about it but his lifestyle was not the best. Exploiting games for fun most of the time and rarely even going to class in college wasn’t too good, not to mention he didn’t even know what would happen after college, where he would even go or what he would do but every time he tried actually coming up with something, he felt depressed so the solution? Just don’t think about it until it’s not right about the corner!

Anyway, 007n7 finally opened the door, ready to step out into the hallway-

His food bumped into something that, on impact, started crying like a child.

No, like it was actually a baby.

He froze for a second and looked down on what seemed to be a cardboard box with a baby inside it.

The baby was red.

What the fuck.

007n7 stared at the little demon baby, blinking, frozen for a second. He crouched down to it to observe it better before he heard his dearest roommate tired, slightly glitchy whining from the living room.

“Seven, what the FUCK?!? I thought we talked out not trolling me if you wake up earlier- what is that.” Before 007n7 could stop him, Noli was already standing beside him, looking down at the demon baby in the box with the same shocked and slightly confused expression he imagined he had as well when opening the door.

Noli was just about to open his mouth before 007n7 cut him off.

“No, I don’t know why this thing is here or what it exactly is, I'm just as confused as you are. Also, no, no idea what to do with it.

The other paused for a second, seemingly to try to process all this then finally responded.

“I mean we could take it to an orphanage or something…”

“It’s a demon child! I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t like that! Hell, they might kill it or something, I don’t know!” Noli raised an eyebrow at 007n7’s defense of the kid.

“I mean would killing it be a bad idea? After all, we don’t know what it is! It could technically be here to eat us!” 007n7 crossed his arms, looking awfully unimpressed. He liked his roommate, he really did but sometimes his ideas were too absurd, even for him.

“Noli, it’s a kid. Regardless if it’s red or if it’s a demon, it would have most likely already attacked us if it really wanted to.” Because yeah, the kid had shut up after Noli woke up and now it was just quietly looking up at them with big, wide eyes, almost like it was listening to the conversation.

“...I hate it when you actually make sense. But then what do we do with it?!” Noli leaned down to look at the kid, his expression slightly disgusted.

007n7 thought for a second. Well, they can’t give it to an orphanage, it’s parents nowhere and probably not worth looking for, after all, you don’t just drop your child accidentally in front of someone's front door in a crusty cardboard box without noticing it.

I mean, there's really one other option left that wouldn’t cause the baby harm, hell it could even allow it to grow up! …What does a red, demon-looking kid even grow up to again?

“We could adopt it, I dunno…” Noli now looked at him with the same shocked expression he looked at the child before.

“Are you out of your mind?! We are exploiters! We hack games, make robloxians shake in their boots when they hear our name and we do all of it for fun! Not raise kids! Not to mention we’re broke college students! How could we-” 007n7 cut him off.

“Do you have any other ideas?! And I mean where he lives! I'm not killing a child and I’m not letting you kill him. I will raise him, you don’t have to take part in it, and if you have an issue with him living in the apartment, you can move out!” Noli seemed taken aback by that, frowning before turning away and walking back inside.

“Fine, but he’s your responsibility and I have nothing to do with him…” his roommate mumbled before disappearing into the kitchen.
007n7 silently celebrated to himself before leaning down and grabbing the box with the baby inside. It was pretty lightweight, around what you’d expect from a normal human baby. Really the only difference here was that the kid was red. 007n7 put it down on his desk in his room, opened the box and took out the child. He put the little guy into his bed and wrapped it into a blanket, hoping it would just sleep until he came home.

Came home from what tho…?

oh fuck.

He completely forgot about class! Looking at his phone he discovered that if he runs he will actually be able to get there! Well maybe not exactly on time but that’s still so much better than not going at all and failing.

Without a second thought, he grabbed all his stuff that he needed and rushed out the door after telling Noli a rushed goodbye. He really hoped his friend wouldn’t hurt the baby tho…

Chapter Text

It was a calm night. A relatively clear sky, not many cars passing by the apartment, just peaceful silence, so naturally you would expect to sleep well, that you could wake up early and still feel fresh, when both sides of your pillow are cold and you're sleeping in a position that your back won't hurt the next day, when-

Suddenly the silence was interrupted by a slightly glitchy baby crying.

This was becoming a habit to 007n7 at this point: drink a lot of coffee so you wouldn't accidentally make yourself fall asleep when trying to sing a lullaby to the kid (it has happened about twice), wake up three times at night, either expecting to hear a baby crying or just because of the caffeine, then when he actually got comfortable and was finally about to get the best sleep of his life, c00lkidd would start throwing a tantrum.

He named the baby he adopted about a month ago c00lkidd and the little gremlin already destroyed half of his life. Sleep schedule ruined, Noli didn't really want to talk to him and every time he attempted to speak to the fellow hacker, he never gave full answers and it annoyed 007n7. Was he still pissy about him not wanting to kill his son- I mean a child?!

007n7 got out of bed, heated up some formula milk for c00lkidd and after he was fed, the baby went back to sleeping, blissfully unaware that he just dragged his father out of probably one of his best dreams.

The kid was also starting to grow little horns and a tiny tail. I mean yeah, sure it made him look more like a demon but 007n7 didn't mind. In fact, he was adjusting to this whole parenting thing more and more every day. At least he thought so. He always got food for him, paid attention to him, maybe more than he should have. At least that's what he heard Noli mumble about last time he “talked” with him. But this was a baby, of course he pays attention to him!

007n7 sat back down on his bed, next to C00lkidd, since they really couldn't afford for the child to sleep anywhere else, but before he laid back down to just toss and turn until morning, he thought of something better to do.

He got up and walked to their small balcony, they didn't use it often but right now he really just felt like getting fresh air was the best choice.

He opened the door, stepped out and-

“Noli?!”

He almost stumbled back inside from surprise as he saw his roommate out, seemingly just watching the sky.

The other seemed equally as surprised as he needed to take a moment to answer.

“Seven? What are you doing at this time?! It is literally-” he paused and looked at his phone really quickly just to be sure “3:17 am!”

“I could ask you the same! As for why I am awake, I have a child to take care of, you know…” 007n7 rolled his eyes but Noli cut in abruptly.

“Oh of course, what was I even thinking, so a little red demon that showed up at our door a month ago is more important to you than our friendship, than what we had-”

“It's not like that! I just don't understand how you could murder a baby with cold blood! Please, Noli, just tell me how I could make this right so that you will talk to me again and no one gets hurt!” He himself didn't even know why he was so emotional right now. 007n7 was always smug, good at masking his emotions and not caring about anything, or at least acting like it.

“ ‘make it right’? You want to make it up to me? Fine, then I want things to be normal again. I want you to exploit with me again. You don't even care about me, hacking or anything else, just that stupid thing!”

“He is my son, Noli!” The words slipped out before he could think about it. Noli frowned, now looking much more sad than angry.

“...why do you care about it so much?” 007n7 took a moment to answer, he needed to think about how to word his feelings for once and it was hard. It was also weird to finally have a deep conversation with Noli. They always just joked around but at this moment, in this night, 007n7 felt like he fully got to know his friend. Noli had sad, fragile feelings too, and 007n7 also realized he never really thought about Noli as a real person. As his sidekick maybe but… oh now he felt guilty. The same feeling when he thought about his future.

He caught himself being silent for too long so 007n7 finally opened his mouth to answer.

“Because even that ‘thing’ is worthy of love.”

Noli’s gate seemed to soften into something much more friendly and maybe 007n7 was imagining it but for a second a smile tugged at Noli’s lips.

“Since when did you get so poetic?” The other hacker teased as 007n7 stepped away from the door and leaned on the fence of the balcony besides Noli.

“It comes with time, getting older makes you wiser, y'know~” 007n7 answered with a slight smirk on his face.

“Seven, you're twenty. And you're only a few months older than me so shut it!” Noli laughed and gave him a light friendly jab with his elbow before 007n7 turned to him, a bit more serious now.

“So… are you okay with the kid staying?” Noli sighed and finally nodded.

“Fine, I'm okay with it. Just… please promise to spend time with me sometimes too…”

007n7 nodded too and smiled.

“I promise I will.”

Chapter Text

It had been around a whole two years since 007n7 started taking care of c00lkidd, all 24 months have been rather rough, balancing college, taking care of a baby and somehow maintaining a good relationship with his partner in crime but he somehow did it, even if he felt like shit most of the time.

He never really had any time for himself and he almost entirely retired from hacking. At the start he occasionally exploited here and there but now, in his last year of college, he didn't find the enjoyment and fun watching robloxians run around in terror as he lit some buildings on fire.

If he really thought about it he didn't really find enjoyment in anything anymore…

But right now that didn't matter, what mattered was the kid.

And the kid had a lot of problems.

He never really realized how much stuff a kid needs and especially how much money things cost.

Most of the time before, he and Noli just lived off of cheap ramen and sometimes just scraps and leftovers but a baby can't eat that, now can it? So he paid for all the stuff c00lkidd needed from any saved up money (sometimes even stealing from what little money Noli had).

But, of course, money wasn't infinite and one day 007n7 woke up to find almost no cash at either him or his dear roommate.

So he had to do the one thing he despised, the one thing he really, really wanted to avoid for as long as he could but the day had finally come…

He had to get a job.

Employment wasn't his thing. It wasn't as freeing as just roaming around carelessly and sometimes running away from the admins but he had to get cash somehow and he wasn't going to ask Noli to get a job and look like a malewife.

So, he applied for a job at the only place he knew were practically hiring anyone with or without experience: Builder Brother's Pizza.

Okay, this might have been stupid, he doesn't even know how he isn't blacklisted yet because of his endless tormenting of the employees at said pizza place but he soon miraculously got accepted and today was his first day!

007n7 stepped into the pizza place in his uniform, finally ready mentally to see the dumb employees who most likely hate his guts and-

Hold up.

Hold up is that Shedletsky?

Yeah so at one of the tables sat the one and only Shedletsky, seemingly waiting for his order, but also lazily chomping away on some chicken.

He is dead. 007n7 is dead. He is so dead if the admin sees him. Even if he mostly retired from hacking, Shedletsky knows who he is.

The admin noticed him and just smiled, even waved at him and walked up to him casually.

“Hey 007n7, what's up? Haven't seen you in a while, where have you been?” 007n7 scratched at the back of his neck nervously. Why was he so scared? A few years ago he was effortlessly escaping from admins like Shedletsky but now, even if his c00lgui is with him, just in case, he actually felt scared of the chicken eating, chubby admin.

“Well… times have changed I guess… We all have to retire at some point” Shedletsky gave him a little chuckle and wiped one of his hands into his shirt before giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“Stop being so nervous, it really ruins your image as a big, scary hacker. But whatever happened to make you stop, I'm glad that you decided to change for the better…” 007n7 relaxed a little at that. Shedletsky really didn't seem angry at him so that made him feel a little better at least.

“...but be glad that it was me who you met not anyone else, the others probably wouldn't let you off the hook that easily.” With that, Shedletsky walked back to his tablet to wait for his pizza.

007n7 walked into the kitchen, just to figure out what is where. The pizzeria just opened anyway so it was almost completely empty besides Shedletsky, a couple of customers and just a few employees. So you can probably imagine the former hacker’s surprise when he was met with a certain employee in the kitchen.

Elliot. Of course it just HAD to be Elliot.

007n7 knew a little about this guy. He was supposedly the owner’s son, he was always sickly sweet to the customers and he cursed at him the loudest when he hacked the pizza place.

Elliot looked like he recognized 007n7 too. His expression went from surprised to confused to irritated in a matter of seconds.

“...Is this some kind of joke?” was the first thing Elliot said as 007n7 shook his head.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you-”

“What the fuck are you doing here?! I thought you stopped with your exploiting or the admins finally caught you!” 007n7 paused, he can’t just say he adopted a baby he randomly found at his front door, that sounds weird and no one would believe him.

“I- I work here now, it’s my first day, I promise I don’t want to hurt anyone!” Elliot eyed him suspiciously and crossed his arms.

“Right… Listen, just don’t get in my way and I won’t get in yours, deal?” 007n7 shook his head a little too eagerly at that.

“Yes, deal!” Elliot pinched his nose in irritation.

“Okay, now get your ass on cashier duty already, you’re lucky you're early…” 007n7 went to the cash register without protest.

Damn this guy could be intimidating. He never really witnessed it before because when he exploited here he would just watch from afar but Elliot could be scarier than he thought. But at least he was right on the fact that most of his kindness to the customers was faked, it was always just too suspicious, too irritating, at least for him.

It was getting dark now outside and after he finally clocked out of his shift for today, 007n7 pulled out his c00lgui and quickly teleported home, trying to ignore the scared glances some of his coworkers gave him as he pulled out the c00lgui panel, most of them finding it familiar. But what was he supposed to do?! Walk home? Hell nah, that was the last thing he wanted to do after the long day at work.

He teleported into his and Noli’s dorm with a poof and the first thing he saw was c00lkidd sleeping on the couch peacefully. But besides him was Noli who looked like was having the best sleep of his life.

007n7 left Noli to take care of c00lkidd while he was gone, the guy didn’t really have anything to do today so might as well.

Although he had his doubts about Noli’s babysitting skills, he at least hoped his roommate wouldn’t microwave his son.

But looks like the results were better than he expected!

Both were out cold on the couch, Noli had his arms even wrapped around c00lkidd. 007n7 couldn't help but smile at the sight.

Then he had an idea. What if he just… slept with them on the couch too? I mean, it would be the same thing as any other night, Noli was just… there. He didn’t have to be weird about it…

So, he changed into his pajamas, laid down next to his roommate and son and stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes.

He's making it weird.

NO NO SHUT UP. Friends can sleep together. It's fine. He's just sleeping in the same bed as his son, Noli's unimportant here!

He had to take his mind off the current situation until he would finally fall asleep…

Right, work. Surely Elliot would ease up on him after a while, surely he would forgive him. After all it's pretty awkward for both of them when they see each other and 007n7 doesn't even know how to apologize to the guy for the months, years of torment. Even if Elliot seems pretty irritating to him, 007n7 doesn't want things to be this way forever, or at least for as long as he's working there…

Whatever, he will come up with some solution tomorrow, it's really about time he just sleeps already.

He turned to his side, towards Noli's back, listening to his roommate’s steady, calm breathing and trying to match it before he got another idea.

What if he hugs Noli just a little to be more comfortable, I mean his friend is a heavy sleeper-

Nope, that's too far.

With that though entering his mind he closed his eyes and decided that it was enough thinking for today and he fell asleep surprisingly fast.

Chapter Text

007n7 opened his eyes with a tired groan. A miracle must have happened because he didn't hear c00kidd crying once over the night, or at least he didn't hear it.

He also slept really well! Which was rare even before the demon baby.

But as he actually looked around there was a crucial thing he noticed that was very unnatural.

It wasn't that he was sleeping on the couch, he remembered that.

It was that his roommate was hugging him tightly, keeping him warm. He carefully tried to take the still sleeping Noli’s arm off of him to not wake him and luckily it worked.

Okay now 007n7 knew his friend moved a lot in his sleep but why the hell did Noli literally cuddle him in his sleep?! Could his roommate have woken up in the middle of the night and did it or was it an unconscious thing? He's overthinking this.

C00lkidd was still sleeping more peacefully than ever as 007n7 glanced out the window and saw that the sun was just beginning to rise.

He went out to the kitchen to make himself a mug of coffee. He really should have learned that drinking so much coffee isn't good for him but he really didn't care anymore. He didn't have energy to parent a two year old, go to classes and go to work on his own so the coffee was about the only thing keeping him alive at this point.

As he sipped on the coffee, he stared at the wall in front of him, just thinking for a little. It was friday. He was up way too early anyway so he definitely had time before his early classes and he only needed to go to work in the afternoon. Though this schedule wasn't very ideal for him since he got little to no free time, there was one thing that crossed his mind.

Why did he feel like today was so important?

Oooooh right! This was the day he found c00lkidd at his doorstep! It’s his son’s birthday! I mean, this was what he considered the little guy’s birthday. So technically c00likdd was turning two years old!

God he didn’t even know how he made it this far… Not the kid, 007n7 just didn’t understand how he managed to balance everything for two years in general.

Before he could finish that thought, he heard a familiar, slightly glitchy voice coming from the kitchen’s entrance.

“Man, I’m glad you’re home, did they keep you all night or what?”

007n7 turned to his roommate who was casually leaning against the doorframe, clearly looking like he just woke up.

“Nope, I was home by nine but you and the kid were out cold already. Kind of surprising considering how often you pull all-nighters…”

“Yeah so basically, I tried putting c00lkidd to sleep as fast as I could so you wouldn’t have to and I may or may not have fallen asleep too while singing him nursery rhymes…” Noli scratched at the back of his head looking almost embarrassed.

007n7 had to suppress a smile there. Even if Noli at first clearly wasn't pleased with c00kidd living with them, the hacker has grown very fond of the kid over time. Usually they would take turns on who stays home with c00kidd but 007n7 would always hear the kid babbling some broken words about Noli and it was clear that the little guy liked the masked hacker’s company. 007n7 really, really wanted to tease his roommate about it but he knew he should be careful with his words. After all, one wrong move and Noli could just throw c00kidd back to the streets while 007n7 isn't home, so he just kept his mouth shut about it.

But luckily Noli didn't really argue with 007n7 about it since that one time two years ago.

“It’s c00kidd’s birthday today by the way” Noli visibly looked more awake at that.

“Really? Damn, time flies… so what do you want to do for him? Last year we didn't really celebrate it because we were both busy and stuff but I think this year he would really deserve something now, wouldn't he- why are you smiling?” 007n7 cleaned his throat, trying to hide his smirk at how much Noli cared now too.

“Nothing… nothing really… anyway, I was thinking of taking a day off this time so we can celebrate his birthday in the afternoon, y'know maybe buy him a little cupcake with a candle to make that his birthday cake or something, not very ideal to miss your second day at your job but it is what it is.” Noli nodded at that but there was a tiny, mischievous smile at the corner of his lips.

“...what are you smiling at?” 007n7 crossed his arms as Noli finally full on smirked.

“Just the fact that you would have never said or did stuff like this a couple of years ago.” He paused and took a step towards the other hacker.

“You're getting soft, Seven~” Noli mocked as the other just rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“Just shut up…” 007n7 mumbled as he started washing his now empty mug at the sink but Noli was still practically invading his personal space just to be a bitch.

“Don't you have classes or something?” The hacker asked but Noli just shrugged.

“Yeah I do but they're not at the ass crack of the fucking morning like yours are. How do you even manage to get the early ones every single year anyway?” At that, 007n7 let out a tired sigh and his friend’s gaze almost immediately softened.

“Alright, alright, I get it, I'll go get dressed and buy the cupcake and stuff for c00kidd…” 007n7 mumbled a quick thanks to him before the other hacker left, him seemingly too focused on cleaning his mug properly. Or at least he wanted to be.

You see, the fact that Noli actually seemed surprised that 007n7 came home indicated that he cuddled him unintentionally last night.

Why is he still thinking about that?!

Eventually, he got dressed, got his stuff and got to class just in time. The whole thing just made him want to bang his head into a wall, making him want to rather go and work at that shitty pizza place instead of listening to the professors talk about stuff he just didn't really care nor did he want to understand.

After what felt like years and years of suffering to him, 007n7 finally went home and the first thing greeting him as he opened the front door was c00kidd straight up pouncing on his leg and pulling at the fabric of his pants to get his attention.

“Dad! Dad’s back!” The little guy did this quite often, ever since he started speaking, when 007n7 would get home he would hug him and call him dad just to somehow convey how happy he was. It honestly warmed 007n7’s heart and it just always made him smile.

He picked up c00kidd before Noli came up to him and waved to him as well.

“Look who's back! Are you ready to light the candles for him?” The masked hacker asked as he ruffled c00lkidd’s short hair.

“Yeah, let's do it!” They brought c00lkidd to the kitchen, sat him down at the dining table and put the little cupcake that Noli bought in front of him. 007n7 put two candles into the cupcake and lit them after him and his roommate sang happy birthday to c00lkidd with his c00lgui.

In the end, c00lkidd finally managed to understand that he had to blow the candles out and both Noli and 007n7 cheered for him.

As c00lkidd was gobbling up the whole cupcake (which was a pretty bad decision since the kid was already bursting with energy), 007n7 gave Noli a little smile.

“Thanks for helping with this…”

“Of course! What do you think I would have done?” At that 007n7 though back to when he assumed Noli put his kid in the microwave or some other stupid shit and felt just a tiny bit guilty.

“Well-”

Chapter Text

It has been around four years since c00lkidd’s second birthday. The little guy has been going to school very recently and even if at first his classmates were freaked out by the fact that he was, well…red, eventually people warmed up to him and everyone pretty much accepted him.

007n7 and Noli eventually both graduated (somehow, even if they skipped at least two out of the four years worth of classes) and decided to stay roommates. After all, they didn't really have money to move out and neither of them wanted to live alone.

Noli found a job too and 007n7 kept working at the pizzeria. Even Elliot started being more friendly with him.

Right now, 007n7 was packing c00lkidd's lunch early in the morning as his son was brushing his teeth and Noli was already gone to work.

The hacker put c00lkidd's sandwich into the little gremlin’s bag and checked the time only to realize his son is gonna be late at this rate.

“C00lkidd! Are you done yet?! You're gonna be late!” 007n7 yelled after knocking on the bathroom door.

“Coming!” Came the reply from the other side of the door.

In a couple of minutes the little red kid showed up in the kitchen and his dad helped him get his bag on before stepping out onto the road.

He could have used his c00lgui to just teleport them but as soon as c00lkidd started developing more and more through the years, he promised he wouldn't use the gui in front of him so he wouldn't even know about it. He didn't want it to get into a toddlers hands that's for sure and he didn't want his kid to know about his not so good past at all. So he just kept it a secret at least for as long as he could.

007n7 would always walk his kid to school. Maybe he was a bit late to work because he had to take a slightly longer route to have c00lkidd's school in the way but it was worth it. It was practically the only time he got to talk with his son on the weekdays. Noli was the one walking him home since that was when he got off of work and when 007n7 would get home c00lkidd was already asleep.

As they got to the school, c00lkidd waved goodbye to his dad and rushed to his classmates. The kid genuinely seemed happy to go to school which made 007n7 really happy considering he was always an outcast in every social situation even if he was physically just like any other person, unlike c00lkidd. But his son seemed to get along with his classmates mostly and the bullying wasn’t as bad as 007n7 expected it to be.

As soon as he dropped the little guy off, 007n7 started towards the pizzeria that he didn’t despise anymore as much. Well mostly because of his coworker.

He never thought he would get here but he actually enjoyed Elliot’s company. The guy was really sweet, he would let 007n7 get off earlier from his shifts and after a rather rough start in their friendship, they actually started talking and Elliot finally accepted 007n7’s several apologies for hacking the pizzeria. It was kinda nice having a friend besides Noli because well… his roommate was acting strange.

This started after c00lkidd started school. Noli just felt distant… It wasn’t like when they adopted c00lkidd, no, Noli was talking to him, they were still friends, it just felt like something changed a couple of weeks ago and 007n7 couldn't pinpoint what it was and it pissed him off.

Whatever, he’ll figure it out later, what mattered now was that he entered his workplace, got his uniform on, all the usual stuff before a familiar blonde greeted him.

“Good morning Seven! Did you sleep well?” Elliot asked as soon as he entered the kitchen.

“Not too bad I guess, I’m sorry I’m late again, I had to take the kid-” 007n7 was about to apologize but Elliot cut him off with a chuckle.

“Has anyone told you that you apologize too much? It’s okay, I’m used to it. You’re only late ten minutes or so.” 007n7 couldn’t help but smile a little at that. He definitely understood why customers found Elliot endearing. His laugh was adorable and he was genuinely attractive, who wouldn’t like him?

“Now stop wasting time! Or I’ll actually be angry at you for just standing around!” Elliot smirked before 007n7 nodded and exited towards the cash registers.

The day was fucking exhausting. That was honestly the best way 007n7 could say it. annoying ass customers, just for minimum payment at the end of the month. But at this point, 007n7 didn’t see a point in getting a better job. He was already dying mentally from this one so he would probably die physically too at a job where you actually have to use your brain at. And maybe it was because he liked Elloit’s company… Anyways! He decided to stay a little longer today to help Elliot clean up the tables.

“What did you want to be when you were little?” came the unexpected question from the blonde pizzeria worker as 007n7 was scrubbing one of the tables clean and his coworker was sweeping the floor behind him.

The former hacker turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Elliot. “Where did that come from?”

“Unimportant, just answer it. I wanna know if I was the only one with stupid dreams as a kid.” 007n7 paused for a moment, thinking.

“I mean, I always wanted to be a hacker…” he could just feel the other one snickering behind his back.

“What’s so funny about it? I thought it was badass!”

“No- it just seems funny to me that you always basically wanted to be a criminal.”

“Oh then what did you wanna be if it’s so much better? I bet you weren’t planning on ending up working minimum wage…” 007n7 asked, feeling a little annoyed at his friend now. But what he didn’t expect was that Elliot’s face grew a bit more serious at the question.

“As ridiculous as it sounds, I wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to help people but because I can’t really bear the sight of someone’s guts, I instead wanted to help them as a nurse. Doing minor procedures instead of saving someone’s life, y’know?” 007n7 stopped cleaning the table and leaned on it instead, listening to Elliot.

“But then why didn’t you become one? You seem smart enough to get into a school for it and you treat everyone so nicely so why work at your dad’s shitty pizza place?” Elliot sighed at that, sounding really tired.

“My dad didn’t have the same plans for me. He had my life basically planned out from the start, he wanted me to work here so he could always keep an eye on me.” 007n7 frowned at that. He stepped forward, and before the other could protest, he pulled Elliot into a hug. But the other didn’t even attempt to protest. He just relaxed into the embrace.

007n7 traced circles on Elliot’s back in an attempt to soothe him a little. “It’s your life, why are you letting your father control it? It’s probably not much but I believe in you. You’re still young and shouldn’t let your life waste away here, in this pizza place, okay?” The former hacker could have swore he heard Elliot’s breathing shake a little before he murmured.

“It does mean a lot… and thank you, thank you for listening to me…” And oh lord, did his friend’s shaky, almost sobbing tone make 007n7’s heart ache.

When 007n7 finally opened the front door to his and Noli’s apartment, still deep in thought about that interaction with Elliot, he wasn’t met with the silence he was used to. He was instead almost knocked over by the little red gremlin with horns and a tail he called his son, literally pouncing on him.

“c00lkidd! You’re way too old to be doing that now!” 007n7 scolded.

“And why are you not in bed?! It’s way past your bedtime! Did Noli not-” He was cut off by c00lkidd pulling on the fabric of his pants with a sheet of paper in one of his hands.

“Dad! Dad! Look what I made!” c00lkidd excitedly straightened the sheet of paper to reveal a drawing of himself and 007n7. Maybe it wasn’t a masterpiece but what did you expect from a six year old?! But 007n7 felt so, so proud of it. It made his chest feel warm and his lips to curve into a smile.

He took the paper to inspect the drawing closer and c00lkidd’s little demon tail was wagging behind him rapidly like a dog’s.

“Good job, kid… Now go to bed, you won’t be able to wake up tomorrow!” 007n7 shooed c00lkidd off into his room just so he could quickly put the drawing on the fridge with a magnet.

Just as he was about to enter his room to get some well deserved sleep, he spotted his roommate in the living room, fidgeting with something on his c00lgui panel in front of him.

“Why didn’t you put him to sleep?” 007n7 asked, leaning on the doorframe to the room.

“He wanted to show it to you. And I chased him around the room just to put him to bed but he was too fast.” Noli responded, not looking up from the panel.

007n7 just sighed at that and rolled his eyes. “Fine… Sleep well, don’t stay up too late…” Noli mumbled him goodnight as well and with that, 007n7 finally went into his room and after tossing and turning for a while, thoughts of Elliot and their conversation not leaving him to rest, he finally fell asleep.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t long before 007n7 woke up, breathing heavily and feeling sweat drip off every inch of his body. Well this was new. He often woke up in the middle of the night but never really in distress, just because he picked it up as a bad habit from when c00lkidd was a baby and he would cry in the middle of the night.

He sighed and because there wasn’t really a way to go back to sleep in this state, at least not a way to actually feel comfortable, he got up and quietly went to the bathroom to wash his face at least.

He shut the door, splashed some cold water on himself which, granted, maybe made him feel just a little bit nicer but it also managed to wake him up more. Great. He checked his phone, hoping that maybe, just maybe it’s at least 6 am so he can just start getting ready for work and-

Nope! It was 4 am on a fucking Saturday. Lovely!

He buried his face in his hands, groaning in distress before opening the bathroom door just to go back to bed and scroll on his phone until the sun rose but then he heard a familiar glitchy voice calling him.

“Seven? I have a weird request but… Could we talk for a little? I promise it will be quick…” Noli’s voice sounded unfamiliar. It was weak, vulnerable in contrast to how confident he sounds usually. Well that scared 007n7 a little.

Regardless, the hacker obeyed and went into the living room, sitting down next to Noli on the couch. In the very dim light of the street lamps filtering through the windows, 007n7 still saw his roommate's face, frowning, looking disappointed and just sad in general. Okay now this was starting to really worry 007n7. What could his friend want to talk about in the middle of the night that made him look actually serious for once in his life? He didn’t even question why Noli was up so late, he obviously just didn’t listen to him when 007n7 told him to go to bed and not stay up late.

“Do you remember that one night when you promised me something, Seven…?” Noli started but 007n7 just tilted his head in confusion.

“Noli, it’s 4 am, why are you expecting me to actually be able to-” but his roommate cut him off, his voice growing more angry than anything at what 007n7 flinched from a little.

“You promised me you wouldn’t abandon me, you promised no child would get in the way of us, you fucking promised that you wouldn’t abandon me! And now look at us, six years later and I’m still waiting for you to actually use the c00lgui for it’s purpose again. And nothing changed! From the day we adopted that kid, you didn’t care about me. You cared about your job, your kid, that stupid pizza guy but what about me? What happened to what we had? I stayed, I cared about your child just so you wouldn’t have to struggle so much but what did I get in return? Nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing.”

007n7 took a deep breath, finally gathering the courage to speak.

“So… You don’t care about c00lkidd?”

“I tried to not care at first. But… I am not heartless. I care about him, yes, but Seven, I care about you more.” After a little pause, 007n7 spoke again, quietly.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry Noli but I’m afraid I’m not the same person anymore. I don’t want to hack anymore… I exploited because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself.”

“Oh so now you are so sure of what you want to do with your life huh?! Then tell me, what are those plans? How do you plan to ever become normal? Even if it was six years ago, everyone knows your name. You are a criminal and it has been a miracle that the admins didn’t catch you. Face it, you never were and never will fit into society."

Okay so that hurt a little…

“I can’t say that I have it figured out yet but I’m trying! I’m trying to be a better person! And now I actually have a goal in my life. I have to be a father.” Noli slowly shook his head at that.

“You never had to be. You could have just abandoned c00lkidd anytime you felt it was too much. But you didn’t. When was the last time you thought about yourself? When you thought about us? I miss the old you and you seriously can’t be telling me that I’m never seeing him again!”

This hurt. This hurt both 007n7 and he could tell it hurt his roommate too by the way the other hackers voice wavered occasionally. But they both knew what 007n7 would say.

“Noli, I’m a father now, I have responsibilities, and most importantly, I am not the same person anymore.” He paused to bite back a sob.

“I am so sorry- please, Noli, I’m sorry but I can’t go back to who I was. It’s just not possible at this point. I care, I care about you so much it hurts but I just don’t have time to show it or don’t know how to show it, just please- Don’t leave…”

The last sentence echoed in the quiet room before Noli answered, his voice being a little more hushed now but there was still just as much bite and anger in it.

“So that’s what you’re so worried about? Being alone? Getting lonely? Damn you're so much more pathetic than I thought… And don’t lie, you do not give two fucks about who babysits your son until he's alright, so stop coming to me with that ‘I care about you’ bullshit.”

Noli paused, took a deep breath and continued, his voice softening into a whisper.

“You were my partner, Seven. Not just in crime, and you know it. The countless times I smiled at you, the way you looked at me, the fact that we know each other better than anyone else… I loved you, Seven, but… All good things come to an end, I guess…”

007n7 wasn’t even surprised at the confession, his mind was just too occupied with panic at Noli’s last few words. ‘Come to an end’? No no no no he doesn’t think of leaving, is he? Fuck fuck fuck fuck-

After a few moments of silence only interrupted by both of their shaky breathing before the masked hacker finally prompted the other.

“Say something… Or do my feelings mean nothing to you as well?”

“You’re not thinking about leaving me, are you…? Leaving all of this, leaving all that we had together… Especially after confessing to me, right…?” 007n7 now couldn’t hold back sobbing just a little, even if he knew the answer to all his questions.

His best friend, roommate, partner is going to leave him, and he can’t do anything about it. He promised something that meant so much more to Noli than he thought and he didn’t keep his word and no amount of ‘sorry’s is going to fix it.

But he was desperate. He was desperate to fix this. He was desperate to keep his life together, even if it never really was too good, it was actually starting to be something and he didn’t want all this progress to crumble. He was starting to feel like he belonged, like he was like any other person. But if Noli left now, if his partner, the only person who wanted to talk to him in college and made him feel like a person,he left him, he knew he would crumble emotionally again.

“Seven…We’re over, got it? Go to bed, I will be gone when you wake up. Don’t bother calling or texting, I’m blocking you everywhere and don’t bother trying to hack my accounts anywhere although I doubt you will try…” Noli sounded so distant, so cold now, it all felt so surreal to 007n7. After the words finally sunk in, 007n7 sobbed out, his voice sounded broken, it was even strange to him given how well he can usually control his emotions.

“Fine…” he got up, hurried towards his bedroom but before he shut the door on him and c00lkidd, he turned his head towards his roommate and murmured.

“Just so you know, I love you too. No matter if you believe me or not, I love you so much it breaks me. And I’m sorry… I’m sorry I was a coward and couldn’t show it properly, before it was too late…” With that, he shut the door to the bedroom, crouching down against it and he finally let himself sob his heart out.

He didn’t care if c00lkidd woke up, he didn’t care if Noli heard him and thought he was weak, it can’t get any worse than this so he might as well, right?

He never really understood relationships and breakups and all that couple stuff but god damn this made him feel fucking miserable. He just wanted to simply disappear, to make the ache in his chest disappear already, he didn’t even remember when was the last time he felt this depressed.

He sat there, his head resting on his knees, his glasses in one hand so he could comfortably cry into the fabric of his pants until he felt the damn thing getting damp from his tears.

His sobs started getting just a tiny bit quieter from exhaustion when he heard his son’s voice.

“Dad? What happened dad? Why are you crying dad…?” c00lkidd ran to his dad and quickly sat next to him at the door, wrapping his small arms around him and hugging him to the best of his abilities.

“It’s okay c00lkidd, I’m fine, I just need a minute, okay? Don’t worry about me.”

c00lkidd looked worried and scared but he didn’t question it further, he just sat there with his dad, providing him as much comfort as he could until they both fell asleep on the floor, leaning against the door.