A/N: This one is for Spiky-Hope. You are rad as hell yo. (Parings Liz/Ragnarok. Patti/Black Star mentioned. And If Kid's really lucky, future Kid/Crona.)
Crona turned off each light as she walked through the house, double checking each room and closing each door as she went.
When Liz had mentioned house sitting, she hadn't mentioned that she lived in a mansion. Crona had spent an hour after she got there simply exploring all four floors and opening doors to see where they went.
"The fridge is full, make whatever you want. We don't have pets so you don't need to worry about that. Help yourself to whatever guest room you want. Okay? Okay! Bye Crona!" Then Liz had hopped on the back of Ragnarok's bike and they had motored off to
Las Vegas for the weekend. Patti was staying with her boyfriend, Black*Star and their foster father, Doctor Graves, lived in a different part of the city. Crona was by herself, and it was a little nerve wracking.
Crona sighed and stretched after she turned off the porch light and locked the front door, carefully sliding the chain lock into place.
She looked at the pictures on the wall above the staircase. They seemed to be chronological as it showed three half siblings growing up together.
Liz and her younger sister Patti Crona knew through Maka, but the boy in the picture was unfamiliar to her except through conversation.
Kid Graves.
In all of the pictures he looked very serious, even the silly ones where Patti had her tongue stuck out and Liz crossed her eyes. Crona had heard Liz talk about his OCD and anxiety. That was probably why he didn't seem to smile very much.
He lived with Liz and Patti, but worked full time and traveled a lot. In fact the only reason Crona was house sitting at all was that Kid was in Hong Kong right now, finishing up a marketing deal for his father's company, and he would not be home until Monday.
She privately thought he would probably have a very nice smile.
Crona doubled checked the locks on the doors, and changed for bed. She'd chosen to simply grab a pillow from a bedroom and drape a blanket over the couch. Sleeping in other people's beds wasn't something she could handle. Crawling onto it Crona yawned again and closed her eyes.
~x~x~
Kid yawned, smothering it with the back of his hand. Then he fastidiously wiped them both clean with a sanitized wipe. His nose wrinkled in distaste, there was the lingering scent of airport all over him. His headache increased as the taxi hit a bump and Kid grunted in pain.
The last thirty hours had been the definition of unfortunate with a dash of absolute hell thrown in for good measure.
The flight to Beijing had been pushed back two hours. Then the connection flight to Hong Kong had been canceled due to weather in the city. Kid had finally arrived at the meeting, only to discover the deal had been pushed back six months, due to a missed programming issue that the coders had failed to notice.
After yelling himself hoarse at the PM for dragging him out there for no reason, Kid had caught the next flight back, only for that one to also be delayed in Sydney, where it was 102 degrees. Kid was looking forward to being back in his own comfortable house, in his own perfectly centered room. Then there was a two week break before the next time he would have to go anywhere outside of Death City.
Honestly, he was so excited Kid could cry, but that would be unseemly to do in public. He could wait until he was home.
When the cabbie was paid and on his way back down the street Kid looked up at his house. It was glorious. His phone had lost charge when he was at the airport, but he could surprise Liz and Patti when he was up in the morning.
Kid yawned again. Correction, if he was up in the morning, and didn't sleep until noon.
Kid fumbled for his key, reaching instinctively for his jacket that was draped over his suit case.
The jacket that wasn't there. For a fuzzy moment Kid stared at where his blazer had been, trying to puzzle out what happened. He'd been wearing it in the airport.
He gasped and whipped around to gape at the end of the street. The taxi was long gone and with it, the tailored armani jacket Liz had bought him for his twenty-first birthday.
Taking deep breaths, Kid managed not to start screaming in the middle of the night, but it was a near thing. Tears of frustration clouded his eyes and his heart thumped in his chest. Kid pressed his hands to his eyes and groaned.
"This can not be happening. I just want to go to bed." He whined. After a minute of trying to center himself, Kid sighed. Standing on the porch bemoaning his bad luck wouldn't do any good.
Was the extra key still above the door? Kid fumbled around at the top, managing to get dust all over his hands. The only thing up there was a note: "Have extra key made. Gave this one to Rags. -Liz". Kid stared at in confusion. Who was his sister giving extra keys to? What the hell kind of name was Rags? That was worse than Patti's 'Black Star'! Kid shook his head. That didn't matter right now, he'd discuss it with Liz in the morning. Right now he needed to break into his own house.
X~x~X
Crona woke up with a start. At first she thought it was a bad dream that had awoken her, but her eyes were dry and her throat didn't feel sore from screaming. For a few disconnected moments she looked around. Where was she? Why was she on the couch? What was that sound?
In a rush, it came back. Liz asking her to house sit, sleeping on the couch because the beds were too big and fancy, and that sound…
That was the sound of glass breaking!
Crona's eyes widened and she gasped. Immediately, she covered her mouth with her hands. Someone was trying to break into the house, what to do, what to do! Crona couldn't deal with this.
But she would have to try. She bit her lip and took a deep breath through her nose like she had practiced with Maka, thinking. Her phone was charging in the kitchen. If Crona was sneaky, she could probably get there without the robber noticing.
She got off the couch, thanking the years she had to practice being quiet to get water from the kitchen when she shared a room with Ragnarok. Crona was just past the sink, with pans drying in it when she heard a thump and a muffled curse from the backdoor. Her blood froze in her veins and every hair on the back of her neck stood up.
Whoever it was now they were in the house. It was too late to call the police. Crona cast around desperately, trying to think past the panic clouding her mind. Her gaze landed on the cast iron frying pan in the sink. Her eyes widened as she thought of a plan.
X~x~X
Kid looked down at the broken glass all over the rug. His shoulders sagged. At least the girls had been careful to lock every door (for once). Just his luck it was the once he had to break into his own house. The glass panel above the would have to be replaced.
Actually, the whole door might need to be replaced now, since Kid just knew the fact one panel was different would drive him crazy.
Putting aside his suitcase, Kid resigned himself to not getting to bed until the rug was vacuumed and the fact Liz would kill him for waking her up. Patti could sleep through an explosion, Kid cleaning, slammed doors and had nearly slept through Liz accidently setting the kitchen on fire.
Kid walked to the hall closet, past the couch in the den. Then he stopped. He turned around and looked back at it.
There was a pillow and a blanket from one of the guest rooms on it. The blanket was crumpled and the pillow was dented. Someone had been sleeping there recently. Kid frowned.
Well where were they- !
Kid felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, and saw the ground rushing up to meet him. He didn't even have long enough to wonder what hit him.
(Later, he'd learn it was a cast iron pan.)
X~x~X
He hit the ground with a thump and Crona dropped the pan in shock.
"Oh my god. I killed him." She whispered in horror. After a moment her panic subsided after she noticed his back moving rhythmically with his breath. Crona blew out a sigh of relief. Actually, other than the bump on the back of his head, he looked fine.
What if he was faking?
Crona backed up to the light switch never taking her eyes off the man. She flipped it on and blinked as her eyes adjusted. The man on the ground didn't even flinch. Satisfied, Crona approached and with a grunt, turned him over on his back.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh. Oh no. No. No no no."
She'd just bashed Liz's younger brother in the back of the head with a frying pan.
Liz was going to kill her. Ragnarok would help her hide the body.
Utterly panicked Crona grabbed her phone.
"Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up Maka." She gnawed her lower lip. Sometimes the only thing you can do is call someone you know will always pick up the phone for you.
X~x~X
The first thing Kid was aware of when he started waking up was that he was on the floor. He could smell carpet fibers and when he moved his arms he could feel the bottom of the couch.
What the hell happened? The last thing Kid could remember was breaking the glass to get into his house. Why was he on the ground? Why did his head hurt? Why were the lights on?
Kid slowly peeled open his eyes, groaning. He could feel footsteps as someone paced nearby and heard a frantic whisper
"-aka. He-he's waking up. I have to go." There was a pause. "I will. I'm so sorry I woke you up. Okay. Okay. Sleep well Maka. Tell Soul I said sorry."
The footsteps came closer to him and a shadow went over his head.
"H-h-hello? Um, c-c-can you hear me?" Kid nodded and then winced.
"Yes. Ugh. What happened? Why am I on the ground?" He blinked trying to stop his vision from going double. He rolled over slightly
onto his back, wincing at the lights overhead.
"Be careful! Your head…" The voice petered off. "I'm so so sorry." Kid finally got a good luck at the person he was talking to.
The overall impression was very large dark blue eyes and a pale heart shaped face. She was kneeling next to him, wringing her hands, and biting her bottom lip.
Most of the time Kid considered himself charming and well mannered, especially towards strangers. But it had been a very long day and his head hurt so rather than anything elegant or interesting what came out of his mouth was: "Who the hell are you?"
She winced again, thin shoulders curling in towards her body.
"Crona. U-um, your sister is dating my half-brother Ragnarok." She whispered to the floor, clearly too embarrassed to look at him properly.
"The person who my front door key was given to?" Kid sat up all the way and groaned, the world tipping around him. "Lovely." There was a gentle touch to his shoulder.
"I-I can help you over to the couch. T-there's water and aspirin?" As Crona helped Kid stand, he noticed that she was in sleep wear, an oversized shirt with some kind of band on it and shorts.
"You were the one sleeping on the couch?" He asked, looking up at her. His mind felt murky but slowly the pieces were coming together. She nodded slowly, never moving her hand from his arm, like she was afraid he was going to fall.
"Uh yes. Liz is in Las Vegas and Patti is over at Black*Star's so they asked me to house sit." Kid rolled his eyes and then immediately wished he hadn't.
"That explains why the doors were locked for once." He sat down on the couch, and noticed a frying pan lying on the ground. He looked at Crona, who guiltily looked back.
"Did, did you hit me? With a frying pan?" She handed over the pills and water.
"Liz said that you were suppose to be out of town until monday! I thought you were a robber!" She looked so upset that Kid stopped mentally planning his rant. Instead he sighed.
"That's fair I suppose. I would have been In Hong Kong until Monday, but there was an issue with the programing. That code monkey had been pray I never find him…" Kid muttered murderously. He explained flying back early and losing his jacket to the taxi. Crona looked very sympathetic for him by the end.
"That's terrible. I'm very sorry, Mr. Graves." Kid sighed and tried a thin smile. It must have looked worse than he thought because Crona looked alarmed.
"Call me Kid. Everyone does."
Crona nodded hesitantly. "Does your head still hurt?"
"A little." Kid admitted. Crona thought for a moment then her eyes lit up
"I'll be right back."
Kid watched her dart away and up to the kitchen. His whole body felt heavy, and what Kid really really wanted was to crawl into bed and not leave it for a month. His eyes drooped closed of his own violation and within moments he was asleep.
X~x~X
Crona carefully wrapped the frozen peas in a dish towel, tip toeing back downstairs.
"I can remember Maka doing this for me after I walked into a pole last summer." She said out loud, then looked over at where Kid sat on the couch.
He was asleep. His head was tipping to the side, mouth slightly open and breathing deeply. He looked very cute but wasn't bad for people with to fall asleep after being hit in the head?
"Um. Kid?" Crona approached carefully. "Kid?" She asked a little louder. He didn't even twitch. Crona sighed and sat down next to him. She moved his head gently so she could place the bag on the large bump that was already forming. Kid never even flickered in sleep. Thoughtlessly Crona rubbed his back, letting her shoulder take the weight of his head.
'He must be exhausted if he's willing to just fall asleep on a stranger.'
Crona yawned and leaned back a little more so they were both propped up on the back of the couch, still holding the bag to his head.
Her eyes gradually shut.
'I could close my eyes for a moment and be awake before he is.' Crona thought before sleep claimed her.
~x~x~
Kid woke up feeling better than he really should have all things considered. One side of his body was warm and felt covered in something soft that smelled vaguely like green apples. But there was something cold and damp resting near his neck. Slowly he opened his eyes, dim light filling the room. He was still sitting up and leaning on another person.
Crona.
Kid felt his face heat up about a eighty degrees. He'd fallen asleep on a stranger! (A cute one when you got right down to it.) She probably thought he was a mess, his shoes were still on for heaven's sake! Kid groaned softly. Clearly the celestial forces were out for him this time.
"Hmmmmn?" Oh lovely now she was waking up. Kid quickly tried to move off her, but was stopped when she wrapped both arms around his neck, letting the cold pack fall to the ground.
Kid froze in shock. Crona nestled in closer letting out another hum of content, before her breathing became regular and deep again.
Oh. Well then…
Kid sighed and looked at her. Bangs going everywhere and snoring quietly. He didn't consider himself very touchy but Kid was surprised to find he didn't mind Crona mostly draped over him. Actually her slow breathing was lulling him back to sleep. Kid closed his eyes, looping an arm around her waist, and falling back into sleep.
~x~x~
"Oh my god that's the cutest shit I've ever seen."
"Shhhhh! You're going to wake 'em up!"
"Why is there a pan on the floor?"
"Itssocute! Ican'tbreathe!"
Crona groaned and opened her eyes. She was lying on the couch, face buried in a mass of something soft and dark, and smelled like pine and metal.
"Shhhh! She's waking up!" There were giggles next to her. When Crona looked up, she could feel every drop of blood drain from her face.
Patti, Black*Star, Maka and Soul were staring at her. Patti and Black*Star were wearing identical manic smiles and Patti had her phone out. Maka's face was buried in her sweater and from what Crona could see she was cherry red. Soul was patting her back in comfort but looked far too amused.
"Hi Crona! You comfortable?" Patti asked cheerfully. Maka let out a sound like a mouse squeak.
Crona looked down at what she'd been laying on. Kid had an arm wrapped around her waist and at some point they'd been tugged down onto the couch properly. He was smiling a little in his sleep, even though his hair was a mess and his suit was wrinkled.
He had been very comfortable to lay on.
Crona eeked and fell off the couch, landing with a thump, prompting Patti to roll backwards laughing.
"Oh my god we walked in and the two of you were so cute on the couch! Like little bunnies, I thought Maka was going to have a stroke."
Maka had emerged from her sweater and caught Crona in a death grip.
"You're just so cute Crona! I can't handle that! Did you know you snored? It's darling!" Maka rubbed her face affectionately into Crona's collar bone.
"Hey! Why don't you call my snoring adorable?" Soul interjected.
"Because you sound like a dying bull frog when you snore Soul. Crona sounds like a kitten."
At this Black*Star joined Patti in dying laughing while Crona tried to gently pry Maka off.
With all this noise it was inevitable that Kid would wake up.
"What is Black*Star doing in my house?" Kid demanded. Crona thought he was trying to sound annoyed when really he just sounded tired.
"What, don't want a bigger man than you on your home turf? I know I'd be intimidated." Black*Star stopped laughing and puffed up his chest instead. Patti giggled affectionately, ruffling his wild blue hair.
"Maka called us this morning and told us that you got home last night. We thought we would come and check on you. And we found you curled up with Crona." She explained. Kid had sat up and blushed.
"Ah, yes well, um."
"Oh no need to explain. We get it dude." Soul smiled evilly. Maka glared though.
"I hope you didn't keep her up all night."
Crona blushed even harder than Kid. "N-no Maka don't worry it was an accident."
"It better have been."
Kid gently touched the bump on the back of his head, wincing slightly when throbbed. Crona noticed and bit her lip again. Soul noticed and decided to try and give them some privacy.
"Tsubaki is getting us coffee and doughnuts." He checked his phone. "She'll be back in a second, so why don't we go to the kitchen?"
He herded his girlfriend and Co up the stairs.
Crona was left alone with Kid.
Crona dug her fingers through the carpet fibers, trying to avoid his gaze.
"I'm sorry I locked you out. And hit you with a pan." She whispered. "And, um, slept on you." her face was red again.
"I know you didn't mean to. Please don't worry too much." Kid got off the couch, and pulled Crona to her feet. His face went pink, but he smirked.
"As for sleeping on me. Well, maybe next time it won't be an accident hmmm?" Then so quickly Crona nearly missed it, he pecked her cheek, lips soft. He picked up the peas and the pan, moving onto the kitchen. Crona was so surprised she couldn't move. Kid poked his head back down.
"Coming Crona?"
She looked at him. And a slow smile lit up her face.
"Definately, yes."
FIN
Sorry this took me forever and a day! And that I can't shut up!