Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cronus frowns at his reflection and makes a sorry attempt to smooth back his hair. A knock at the door startles him as he tries to fix his shirt collar.
“What?” he snaps.
“Uber’s here, shitface,” His sister, Meenah, shouts.
He rolls his eyes, “can I have four fucking seconds to get ready for work?” he demands, punching the wall.
“You were supposed to be dressed half an hour ago, dicknips.”
He groans, throwing open the door to his room and shoving past Meenah, “suck a dick, dyke.”
“Idiot,” she laughs

—

Dirk pulls out his wallet and hands Rose a wad of cash, “Thanks for watching Dave again,” he says, trying to force a smile.
“No problem, he’s always really chill,” she smiles too, but hers is genuine. The curvature of her painted lips reaches her eyes in a way Dirk’s hasn’t in a few years.
He pulls out two more fives, “here, take a little extra for gas money.”
Rose’s eyes widen, “No, that’s really okay,”
“I insist, you live half an hour away,” he shakes the bills at her until she reluctantly takes them.

Dave waves excitedly from the porch as Rose’s car, lovingly named Robert Smith, pulls out of their driveway. The second her car is out of sight, he runs back into the house. Dirk shuts the door behind him and slumps against it, pushing his sunglasses up to hold his hair away from his eyes.
How the fuck did he end up like this?
Paying a 17 year old to take care of his kid while he lives paycheck to paycheck and skips meals to make room for the only foods Dave will eat?
Could it be his fault that Dave hasn’t started talking yet?
As he continues to blame himself for everything under the sun, a tug on his sleeve makes him look down to see Dave holding one of his toy cars and pointing at the DVD shelf. Dirk smiles and grabs his keys, “You wanna go see Cars 2?”
Dave makes a face and nods enthusiastically.

—

Rose reluctantly hands her mother the money, flinching as she begins to count it.
“This is all that douche gave you?” she scowls, blowing smoke into Rose’s face.
She nods, “well, I had to take a little bit for gas money, just enough to get home and to his house tomorrow,” her hand grips the hidden ten buck hidden in her jacket pocket.
Her mom scoffs, “tell Roxy to give you gas money next time.”
Rose opens her mouth to point out that Roxy has been missing for a few months and labeled a cold case, but her mom seems to catch herself.
She walks away, picking up a wine bottle from the table, “Just go to your room, Rose.”

—

Cronus watches as two teenagers try to sneak into an R rated movie and can’t find the energy to care. One of his coworkers does, however. Kankri is screaming his head off and running in after them.
Apparently, there are consequences to not doing your job.
Cronus is learning that the hard way, zoning out as Kankri says something about incompetence and getting fired or whatever before Cronus cuts him off.
“Sounds like somebody’s just sad they got dumped,” he scoffs, popping his collar.
Kankri gasps, “I dumped you! How does it feel to have your ex be your manager?”
Cronus frowns, “at least I have some sense of style.”
“Your style hasn't been popular since people still read The Outsiders willingly.”
Damn.
Cronus actually doesn’t have a comeback for that one.
Kankri runs off to stop the same two teenagers from sneaking into Deadpool 3 and all Cronus can think to do is laugh.
He can’t quite tell if he’s laughing at himself, Kankri, the teenagers, or Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
—

GA: Hey Rose

GA: How's Your Day Going?

TT: Not great. My mother just remembered that my sister is missing and got mad at me for spending my own money on gas.

TT: So just the usual.

GA: If You Ever Get Out My Door Will Be Open

TT: Highly unlikely, but I appreciate it.

GA: It's Getting Dark Here

GA: What Time Is It In California?

TT: Only 4:13.

TT: Dirk returned early today.

TT: If it’s too tiring, feel free to go to sleep anytime.

GA: No I Enjoy Your Company

TT: Alright, I might need to leave the conversation soon to eat dinner.

TT: Just a heads up.

Kanaya gets no response after that and sets her phone down in her nightstand.
Porrim knocks on her door delicately, “What do you want for dinner?”
She sighs, “I don’t really care what we have.”
“So…is Pad Thai alright?”
“If that’s what you’re making.”

Kanaya shoves her food around her bowl with her fork, distracted. She wishes she could help Rose more, but the Lalondes are in Cali and she’s in New York.
She met Rose in middle school, they were neighbors with the same bus stop before Kanaya moved with Porrim two years ago.
Oh, how Kanaya wishes she stayed.

—

Cronus flicks his cigarette butt into a trash can and blows a bubble with his nicotine gum.
Or, he tries to. He gets the feeling that it wasn’t made for bubble-blowing. In front of him is Dirk in paint stained clothes with a seven-year old tugging at his pant leg, who flaps his free hand and points at a poster.
He sighs and pulls out his wallet, “two tickets to Cars 2, please.”
Cronus also can’t help but notice that this man is beautiful as he slides the tickets over, “free of charge, babygirl,” he winks.
He scoffs and takes the tickets before grabbing a handful of concessions, “these too, then.”
“All these’ll cost is your number,” he slides the sticky note pad he should be using to keep track of something he can’t be bothered to remember across the desk.
Dirk rolls his eyes and realizes his kid is gone, “next time?” he shrieks, not waiting for a response before dashing down the hallway.
Cronus then tears off a sticky note and sticks it to the desk.

get beautiful strangers numbers next time

Chapter Text

Dirk walks out of the screening room, Dave on his heels. He’s flapping his arms and bouncing as his father leads him back to the exit.
Just as he walks past the concession stand, someone yells a greeting. He turns around to see Cronus running up to him.

He gasps for air and holds out his phone, “You said you’d give me your number,” a lopsided grin stretches across his face.

Dirk smiles and takes the phone, “You want my name, too or just the number?” he jokes, raising an eyebrow.

“Whatever works for you, Caro.”

He hands him the phone again, “It’s Dirk.”

—

Dave falls asleep rather quickly that night, leaving the last two spoonfuls of his spaghetti-o’s cooling on the table. With a sigh, Dirk scrapes the cold noodles out of the bowl and rinses it before (finally) collapsing on the couch.
A few minutes later, his phone buzzes from his pocket.

hey hey hey

hovws your day been?

It’s been fine. You?

as good as vworking at a movwie theater can be i guess

I’ve never worked at one before. Is it the customers or the coworkers making it miserable?

the paycheck

Dirk smiles and rolls his eyes as he types out a response.

—

It’s been a minute since Cronus texted like this with anyone. His days had started feeling mundane, routines engraved in his brain with no room for a break. He lays the phone against his chest and picks a spot on the wall to glare at, lost in his thoughts.
That is, until he feels the phone buzz again.

I just realized I never caught your name.

oh yeah

its cronus

The small typing bubble disappears and reappears a few times before Dirk actually sends another message.

Hang on, I think someone is breaking into my house.

The fuck?!

—

A loud clanging noise comes from his basement, followed by a polite knock. His phone buzzes repeatedly in his hand, probably Cronus worrying, and he sets it down on the couch.
On his way to the basement door, Dirk grabs a kitchen knife.

He glares at the door, sweat slicking his palms and loosening his grip on the knife, “hello?” He asks meekly.

“Dirk?” The other person asks, voice trembling.

“How do you know my name?” He swallows, “Cronus, if this is a prank, it isn’t funny.”

“Dirk it’s Roxy.”

—

Dirk has stopped replying to Cronus, despite the numerous messages he’s sent.
Either he’s investigating the threat or he’s dead and Cronus is really hoping it’s the latter.
Or maybe he just fell asleep, who knows?

In the midst of his worrying, he doesn’t notice Meenah pounding on his door.

“Fag! Open up!” She shrieks.

“Oh my gog, what?” He demands.

“I brought dinner, come and eat before I choke you with it.”

Cronus exhales sharply and unplugs his phone as he walks out.

—

The door itself seems to hesitate as Dirk pulls it open to reveal a very scared girl. Roxy is hugging herself, faded pink hair sticking to her sweaty face as she inhales.

“Hey,” she mutters.

“You’re back.”

“Yeah.”

Dirk’s mouth runs dry, “you could’ve texted me, Rox.”

“I had to buy a new phone after I left, not everything moved over,” she sounds like she’s trying not to cry, “I only now worked up the courage to admit it.”

He bites his lip, glancing towards the kitchen, “Need something to eat?”

She slowly nods, clutching her stomach.

—

Cronus is checking his phone every few seconds, waiting to see if Dirk is still alive. Meenah scoffs as he picks it up again.

“The fuck are you so worried about?” she asks, shoveling food into her mouth.

“Some hot guy gave me his number-”

“Fag.”

“Slut. Anyway,” he takes a sip of his Code Red, “someone supposedly broke into his house and he stopped replying to my texts.”

“Oh, shit,” she nearly chokes on her chicken, “not gonna lie, I thought you were waiting on a booty call or something.”

Cronus doesn’t reply, instead sending Dirk another message and setting the phone down.

“Got any pics of this ‘hot guy’?” she asks.

“No, I only saw him twice. He’s got nice hair though. Platinum blonde and effortless.”

“Damn, you’re whipped.”

His jaw drops, “pardon?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Faggy McDicksucker, pardon my vulgarity,” she heightens her voice before dropping it again, “It’s just been so long since you’ve looked happy. Even with Kankri you were miserable.”

“To be fair, Lesbo McClitmuncher, everyone’s miserable around ‘Kri.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just don’t fuck this up, okay? I gotta meet this ‘effortlessly beautiful’ stranger.”

With one last glance at his phone, he whispers, “I’ll try my hardest.”

—

Dirk comes into the basement with a plate of dino nuggets and sits beside Roxy on the floor.

“Here,” he whispers, setting the plate down.

“Thanks,” she eats them slowly, “who’s Cronus, by the way?”

He’s suddenly thankful for the shitty lighting in the basement as he feels his face heat up, “how’d you know about him?”

“When I knocked, you said ‘Cronus, if this is a prank, this isn’t funny’.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dirk takes off his sunglasses, “he's just someone I met recently.”

“‘Just someone you met’? Seriously?” she cocks an eyebrow, “come on, tell me more.”

“Well, he looks like he read the first half of The Outsiders four years ago and made it his entire wardrobe inspo.”

“Didn’t know you were into that,” Roxy laughs.

Dirk tries to think of a comeback, but, “I…didn’t know either,” is all he can think to say

“Has he met Dave yet?”

“Only briefly, I haven’t said much about him yet.”

Roxy exhales, “has he talked yet?”

“No.”

“Are you still convinced that’s your fault?”

Dirk doesn’t reply.

She reaches for another nugget, only to realize that she’s eaten them all, “Does Rose still babysit for you?”

“Yeah?”

“I need you to promise not to tell her I’m back.”

Dirk tries not to let the confusion seep into his voice, “why…?” he asks hesitantly.
Real smooth, Strider.

“I left her, Dirk,” Roxy sniffles, “I need to figure out what I’m gonna say to her.”

“That’s fair,” he shrugs, holding out a pinky, “I swear I won’t mention anything to her.”

She tries not to cry as she takes his pinky in hers.

“Thank you."