Cronkri: I won't let you down

Chapter 30: Kankri

The next day, I woke up later than usual since I had no real reason to wake up at any specific time. I got out of bed and walked down the hall, rubbing my eyes and running my hand through my hair.

"Hey chief. Sleep okay?" a voice came from in front of me. I looked up and Cronus was sitting on the couch, smiling at me.

"Cronus! What are you doing here? I'm not even dressed yet!" I tried pulling my tee shirt down to cover my crab boxers.

Cronus stood up and walked over to me, still smiling. "I figured you'd gone long enough without seein' my face."

"A warning would've been nice."

"I did. Check your phone."

"It's in my room, I'll take your word for it."

He went in for a kiss and I held a hand up. "Ohhhh no. Not this. You haven't talked to me in days and now you expect me to take you back, just like that? I cannot BELIEVE you had the, the audacity to-"

"Kankri."

"To just think that I would stoop so low as to take you back after one little-"

"KANKRI."

"Just one little kiss! That's utterly ridicu-" He cut me off with an actual kiss. That didn't help. I was enraged with the nerve of this guy! I pushed him off of me, fuming.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST-"

"KANKRI OH MY GOD LISTEN TO ME!"

"Just... keep...." I trailed off.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It was a dick move. I get that you gotta stay here and move out on your own and whatever. And I'm sorry for ignorin' you. But hey, sayin' this in person is way better than over the phone, right?"

I nodded hesitantly. "I suppose..."

"Good. Forgive me?"

I sighed. "Alright. But don't do that again, or I might not let you get away with it so easily."

He could see the joking light in my eyes and smiled. I gladly returned the smile and hugged him close.

"I missed you."

"Missed you too, Kanny. Hey, Ara said somethin' about a new job? Did you really get fired from... McDonald's, of all places?" He had to keep himself from laughing.

I nodded. "Yes, actually. It appears flipping burgers wasn't my 'true calling'."

"So. Editor of the paper?"

"Yes. I mean- no... I don't know." I let go of him.

"You don't know?"

"I don't know. It would be great to have a job like that, but apparently they don't want me to actually write anything, just correct mistakes and organize the whole thing."

"That's pretty lame."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I declined the offer."

"Then how're you gonna pay for this?"

"I don't know that, either. Maybe someone needs a receptionist. They make above minimum wage, right?"

"Probably." He shrugged.

"How long are you staying here?"

"Just for the day."

"Can you stay longer?"

"Maybe, it's not like I got anything going on back home."

"Good. I don't like being away from you for so long."

He nodded and started walking to the kitchen. "Got any food around here?"

"Quite possibly. There's cereal in the cabinet," I called to him and went back to my room temporarily to put on some pants and get my phone. There were 8 text messages, 7 from Cronus and one from Aranea. Cronus's were all the same: "I'm sorry" "I miss you" "I'm coming over", etc. I checked the one from Aranea.

Kankri, great news! The people who offered you the job went to their next best candidate: Me! I can't believe you didn't take this job, it's so wonderful and pays amazingly; I would be able to pay rent ten times over. I'll talk to you in person when I get home, then we can settle further living arrangements.

Further living arrangements? Was she planning on kicking me out?! I put my phone in my pocket silently and walked back to the kitchen to find Cronus turning the last of our eggs into a couple of omelettes.

"I was gone for less than two minutes," I started walking in, "how did you manage to get these started so quickly? And where did you get those spices? I didn't know we even had any."

"I found 'em in the back of the cupboard," he said coolly, flipping the omelettes. "Can you get out a couple plates?"

I nodded and got out two glass plates from another cupboard. "I think Aranea is considering kicking me out of the apartment." I hadn't expected to tell him that just yet, but it just kind of slipped out.

"What makes ya say that?" he asked, putting the omelettes on each plate and setting them on the table for us.

"She texted me earlier; apparently she got a better job and doesn't need my help paying rent anymore."

"That's great! Now you don't got an excuse to come home with me!"

"I suppose..." I felt dizzy at the thought of going back home where my dad could easily track my movements at any time.

"You alright, chief?"

"Yeah, yes, I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for making breakfast."

"No problem."