A Tale of Masks, Coffee and Sometimes a Fight

To be honest with you anon, for the longest time the answer was ‘No’. I’d gone into a pretty big rut with YSLS and writing in general, and the people that I usually discussed SP with, and got excited with, went to other fandoms, and my motivation for it dwindled the more time passed because people just lost interest in it. I knew where I wanted it to go but I just didn’t have the energy/motivation to write.

OHHHH okay I get you now, hahaha.

Yes, I do. However!! It's really not as much as you'd expect, because strictly speaking, things could be SO MUCH WORSE and I know how it ends, so I don't feel all that bad.

I am always answering

Unless I'm on maplestory

.....okay I will make it a point to get off MS on occasion and see if I have any messages, I promise.

Hehehe to be honest I don't actually have a song for them.

Hey, wowow, this is not the way to win brownie points okay

I'm not just flinging out plot secrets nilly-willy for anybody to have so I think I'll be A-ok

This is clearly the best song for them.

Hmmm, how to answer this without spoiling...

Does it really count as spoiling, seeing as it's labeled under romance and it's not giving away anything of the plot...? Hmm....

Does he? D':

I'm not tagging this as an official update, it isnt lol, but here's some of what I have so far, stumbling, bumbling these tired fingers of mine across my dusty keyboard.

Carry on, wayward hands //shot XD

Anyway, tell me what you think so far, please!! Are they deviating from what they're usually like, too much friendliness, too much of anything??? Any help/opinions are appreciated ;w; My ask box is open and so is my little chatbox in the sidebar :3

…all caught up!! :D

I’m already in the process of typing up part eight of our long, long trawling tale, but I fear I may have become a bit stuck. After all, a couple of months is a long time, and the writing muscles can stagnate just as much as any other muscle in our body ;D

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I wish to post up my meager writings here, (basically what I have of it so far), so you can give me some opinions on how you think things should go! My new chatbox is there for your use, as is the ask box, completely with the anon feature :D (I won’t take it down unless there’s some serious anon-hate, which I hope there won’t be >:I)

Tweek couldn't believe his eyes, staring almost awestruck at the scar he had seen before, simultaneously entranced by the shape and color as well as the fact that Craig was telling him it was real, and totally not a dream. His fingers reached out, intent on touching Craig to really prove to himself that this was freakin', miraculous-miracle-like reality right all up in his awesome ninja grill.

Unless...

His eyes narrowed suspiciously, glaring at the raven until the other spoke up, somewhat exasperatedly.

"It's not a dream, I swear."

Tweek's eyes widened almost comically, sucking in an unintentionally dramatic breath. "Psychic...I knew it."

Craig did some kind of a gentle facepalm, simply laying his face on a hand instead of slapping it hard enough to burst his head like a watermelon. Which was good in Tweek's opinion, because if Craig managed to split his head open he wasn't sure he could keep his shit handled, and was probably gonna flip some tables and jump out of a window.

….and maybe take some of that pizza with him too, 'cuz that was some really good stuff. Actually, he kinda wanted some now, as a matter of fact...

Craig interrupted his thoughts, leaning forward a little bit toward Tweek. "If you want, I can prove it."

The blond looked at him even more suspiciously, if that was possible, pursing his lips a little at the suggestion. "...really?"

"Yeah, sure."

"...how?" Came the hesitant question. Craig shuffled a bit closer, raising a hand so that the palm of it was innocently facing Tweek, almost like a peace gesture, showing the other he was unarmed. "Look here," the raven said. "You see my hand?"

Tweek nodded slowly, peering at it closely.

"Good." Without any warning it flashed forward, smacking into Tweek's forehead.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" This of course was Tweek tumbling to his backside on the ground and spazzing out all over the goddamn place like the twitchy blond spazzy kid he was. "OH GOD MY SKULL, MY BONY BRAIN GOO PROTECTOR!" Tweek shrieked, flailing his thin little legs everywhere.

Craig looked upon him with his usual blank apathy, albeit with the hint of a smile on his face, this time clear and visible, thanks to the mask no longer being on his face. "You don't feel things in dreams, Tweek. Chill."

The coffee lover took in a moment to take in this fact, slowing down his hurried rolls on the bathroom floor as he began to think.

...hmm, that was true, wasn't it?

I suppose...

So, once again another unnecessary spaz-out?

Yup. You're on a roll today.

Tweek would have bowed to his head if he could have. Why thank you.

It was nothing.

No really, you are too kind.

"Tweek."

Well, aw shucks, you're making me blush.

Blush not, oh mind of mine, for su—

"Tweek!"

"Argh!" Tweek was once again startled by Craig's voice, for like the third time in less than as many minutes, jerking back and smacking his head on the nearby wall. God, what was it with his head and walls? He gave out a little moan of pain, which Craig took as a sign to continue on whatever reason he had interrupted Tweek's train of thought...or rather, conversation with his own head. Hmm, he really had to stop doing that, didn't he?

"If you're done...?" The raven raised a single eyebrow at Tweek in his own classic little gesture, and the other nodded slowly, a tiny pout hovering on his painted lips. Craig gave a snort of contained laughter, then stood up. "Anyway, I don't think you're gonna go to sleep again, so come on."

Tweek took the hand that was suddenly pushed in his direction, pulling himself up and rubbing a bit at his face, resolving to wash it off soon, definitely before school tomorrow. As of right now, his attention was focused on the guy in front of him. Craig pulled him out into the hallway, back into his room before letting go of his hand to pick up the pizzas. The blond, who had been in the process of going to sit on the bed, was confused as Craig made his way tot the door again, peering back at Tweek curiously, his gaze clearly asking, What're you doing?

Okay, apparently they were going somewhere that was not Craig's room. The blond got up with more than a little bit of suspicion, picking up his thermos from where it was still on the floor and following the raven silently through the surprisingly dark house. Oh yes, it was pretty late at night, right? How had he forgotten that…? Either way, Tweek scampered a bit more closer to Craig's side, glancing around nervously at the creeping shadows. He had never been too scared of wandering around his own house at night; though the years he had explored its every nook and cranny, had learned every one of its sounds and movements. It was his house at night, his own place and nobody knew it as well as he did. Even with the constant fear of thieves that might break in or gnome assassins, he was never really too afraid of his own house.

The same, however, could not be said of Craig's. He wondered if it would be too much to just reach forward and latch his hand into the back of the other's shirt for protection. After all, the raven had said that they were friends, right? So…so he couldn't get too mad…he hoped. Then Tweek decided it didn't really matter, because this house was really really dark and he thought he had just heard something thump downstairs. And, like any sane person, he briefly entertained the thought that it might have been a murderer.

Yes, definitely time to latch onto Craig.

Tweek stifled a squeak, his fingers flying to dig into the back hem of the raven's shirt. Surely this pizza-carrying, scarred ninja wouldn't turn around and rip off his head. Well, at least he hoped it wouldn't be true. Thankfully, the other did nothing more than just give a little glance behind him and continue on his way.

If Tweek had been in a less scared mood, he might have done a fistpump in triumph. He settled for just a celebratory drink him his thermos in his free hand. Hell yes, he was so in there.

"The hell aren't you asleep yet." Craig suddenly snapped and Tweek jumped almost a foot in the air (quite literally; have you ever seen a spazzy freak jump? They can get pretty damn high...), stuttering incoherently. What! Sleep? Wha—how could he get to sleep so quick, and standing up! While walking! Sweet Jesus, if that was the price for latching onto the other's shirt, he wasn't sure he could deliver! Oh God don't let Craig rip his head off just because he couldn't fall asleep on command instantly in the middle of dark creepy hallways while standing up and walking, arghh!

"Why aren't you?" Another voice came back, and Tweek almost fainted. By everything that was hot and coffee-holy, had he actually snapped back at Craig? Had that been him being unintentionally rebellious? Oh shit, yup, he was so gonna die, he was so freakin' dead, he could count his paranoid, coffee-loving life over...

The raven's free hand lifted up to flip him off before killing him...Tweek couldn't help but keep his eyes latched on it, there was just something about your impending death that you just couldn't look away from—wait, wait, where was Craig pointing that middle finger? The blond suppressed the nervous flinch that had been crawling up his spine, desperate to get out, as his eyes followed the direction in which Craig was looking, which coincidentally, was not his.

There was a flame-headed witch, standing by a darkened doorway, flipping the both of them off.

This time Tweek let out a shriek, jumping back hurriedly enough that he hit the opposing wall. He could've pulled Craig with him, seeing as one hand was still clinging to the back of his shirt, but the raven seemed immovable, standing firm as though he hadn't even noticed Tweek's pull on him.

Jeez, what was he, a rock?

Probably.

The witch turned her full attention on him and Tweek squeaked, clutching his cold coffee to his chest as if to protect it; he slowly realized that no, it was not a witch, but instead a little girl, no older than fourteen or fifteen. Well, she might have been a witch, he didn't know, but for right now she looked pretty human. She raised an eyebrow in what Tweek was quickly coming to recognize as a family trait, putting down her hands to cross them in front of her chest. There seemed to be some kind of unspoken communication between her and Craig, because the raven jerked a nod in the blond's direction. "He's a friend."

Her eyes narrowed and he gave a loose-shouldered shrug in response to whatever the fuck they were talking about inside of their heads. Jesus, was this entire family psychic? Was that how they communicated outside of the sights of mere mortals like Tweek himself?

There was a pause in which both Craig and the girl—Tweek assumed she was his sister or something, hadn't he caught a glimpse of her before while running out of Craig's house that one time?—stared each other down, then she shoved a hand out toward him, silently demanding something. The raven gave an exasperated huff, leaning the pizza boxes in her direction; she opened the top one, plucked two slices from inside and was slamming the door in their face before Tweek had really noticed what the hell was going on.

"Brat." Craig grumbled under his breath, closing the box and flipping off the shut door once before setting again on his way, tugging Tweek along with him. The blond wasn't exactly sure what to think about the whole interaction that had just taken place, but judging by what Craig and mother's relationship was like, decided to assume the two siblings were...close? Or...something. Whatever passed as sibling-like in this ninja-filled household.

This is a really weird family.

Yeah, we're not too far off either, Tweek grumbled wryly to himself, staring down at the floor as his fingers toyed with Craig's shirt. Where exactly were they going anyway? Craig seemed to have some sort of destination in mind, but maybe it'd be nice if actually told Tweek where they were going...although now that he thought about it, he didn't remember actually asking Craig where they were going, so it wasn't like it was all entirely the raven's fault that he had no idea where they were off to, and was possibly entertaining thought about dark confining closets and deals made with serial killers for the sweet bloody flesh of a coffee-loving blond. Oh jeez, no, don't think about that, Tweek, don't think about that, whatever you do, don't think of Craig selling you out to leather-masked serial killers wearing twenty sharp blades on their belts, ready to skin you alive inch by i—

The raven suddenly dropped down four inches. Tweek, still having a hand clenched on the back of Craig's shirt, could only shriek and do a faceplant between the other's shoulder blades. Oww.

"Watch out for the stairs, Tweek."

A little late, Craig. His mind muttered, peeling itself from the side of his brain where it had been suddenly thrown to. Tweek made a little noise in the back of his throat that was meant to indicate pretty much the same thing, disentangling his fingers to push his face away and regain a more normal curve to his spine. He was, at the very least, grateful that Craig was standing still on the stairs and not still walking forward, dragging him along down the way.

He rubbed his nose a bit, which was kind of throbbing now. Ow. Jeez these stairs were dark. How the hell could Craig even navigate them safely at midnight? Or even see them? Tweek once again grabbed onto Craig, if only to keep from falling to his doom down pitch black stairs and snapping every bone in his neck once he reached the bottom. Jesus how had he survived that last drop? Tweek shuddered, remembering that horrid day.

The raven took another step forward, but slower this time and Tweek was ready for it; he descended down to the step the other had just vacated. After a dark, scary period of descending down step by step into what certainly had to be the mouth of the awaiting beast, Craig's steps leveled out and Tweek could breathe a little easier, able to see the glow of street lights through the front windows of the living room. Okay, they were on the ground floor. They were safe.

Should he let go now? They had reached where they were going, right? Like, where else could they go in the middle of the night, carrying boxes of pizza? Tweek decided that now would be a good time to potentially bring this up, and that maybe he wouldn't let go of Craig until they had arrived at wherever the hell they were actually going. No use in having Craig disappear on him randomly and making him spaz out yet again in the middle of a dark, extremely terrifying house full of Tucker family members.

"Craaaaig," Tweek whined. "Ngh, wh-where're we going?"

The raven took a turn into a tiny hallway, pulling Tweek along with him as he reached a door. "Here." He pushed it open with his free hand.

Holy. Shit.

Tweek took one look at the endless staircase spiraling down into blank nothingness and let go of Craig's shirt, backing up a step. "Nope. N-nuh uh. No -ngh- way."

"It's just the basement."

"Nope." Tweek turned around, not so much determined as too shocked by the gaping black abyss behind him to properly spaz out in terror. Too much, his brain shrieked. Too much, and I'm just gonna shut down for a sec, get your ass someplace else before I come back. "N-nope." He was gonna go back, find those stairs, crawl up them if he had to, and go back to Craig's room where there was a light switch, lights and a closet he could crawl into. Yup. That's exactly what he was gonna do.

"It's a basement."

Tweek paid the raven behind him no attention, zipping his lips shut as he groped his way back along the half-darkness, peering around at the dim light from outside of the windows. Okay, the living room was that way, and the stairs were really close, so he wasn't too far from—

A clawed hand yanked him back by his shirt and Tweek shrieked, almost toppling over and somehow miraculously keeping a grip on his thermos as his feet struggled to keep him upright.

"Craig! Oh God, Craig, Craig help, oh sweet Jesus help it's got me gah! Oh God don'tletiteatmybraaaains!"

"Shut up, you spaz." The raven's voice growled behind him, and the clawed hand turned out to be a regular hand as it let go of his shirt to latch around his waist, lifting him up to drag him back more easier to the dark hole of a staircase. Tweek was not comforted any more by this fact, continuing to fight anyway.

"No, C-Craig, stoppit, -ngh- it's gonna eat me, d-don't, no I don't w-wanna -augh- g-g-gooooo..." he wailed, flailing for his life.

Craig hiked him up a bit higher, trying to keep him still. "Goddammit, you're gonna tip over the pizzas, it's not going to e—"

An angry, deep, unmistakeably male voice boomed from the top of the stairs. "CRAIG KEEP YOUR BITCH QUIET OR I'LL TOSS HIS ASS OUT."

Tweek froze instantly, eyes wide and lungs frozen for a split second before he wiggled straight out of Craig's grasp and shot down those basement stairs. Craig gave off a few choice mutters about his father and followed the blond down, closing the door behind him.

The coffee-lover, on the other hand, had reached the bottom of the stairs in record-setting time and was discovering that the basement wasn't as terrible and horrible as it had first appeared. As soon as he had reached the bottom—somehow avoiding that grisly fate of tripping over his own feet or missing a step and going tumbling down to crack his head open and bleed his brain guts all over the floor—he had noticed that one, it wasn't as dark down here as he had expected, and two, there weren't any monsters jumping out at him from shadows or chains hanging from the walls as he had somewhat expected. There was a long couch in the middle, facing two large flat-screen televisions, a coffee table and a whole slew of different game consoles, the many cables and wires peeking out from under the table were the televisions were. There was a small closet by one wall, and...what looked to be a giant body bag leaning against the far corner. Tweek's mind, strained as it was by recent events and fears, decided to ignore that for the time being. He focused instead on the little lamp in the shape of a red car sitting on the coffee table next to the couch, inching closer to it to avoid standing in the dark where anything could grab him and suck him down into a world of nothing.

He heard footsteps come down the stairs and looked up to see Craig make his appearance, still balancing the boxes of pizza in his hands. The raven glanced over at him before coming over and laying the boxes down on the small table in front of the couch, flipping one open and snagging a slice for himself. Tweek couldn't help but stare a bit; the seemingly mundane action was actually very fascinating, it being the first time Tweek had seen the other consume something without his mask on. Or...just really eat anything. Besides coffee, but that was drinking, so it didn't really count.

Craig looked...normal. Really normal. If you looked at him from the right side, all you could see was the edge of the scar peeking over his bottom lip and chin. It looked kind of bad, but you could put it down to a bad wipeout on a bike or skateboard, faceplanting the wrong way as a child and gaining a new scar for it. He ate sort of sloppily, stuffing as much as his mouth could hold, which Tweek considered something of a contrast to his perpetual pokerface...and the slight belief that Craig lived merely off of games, dirty jokes and the badassness he himself exuded.

His thoughts were derailed when he saw the other walk over to the closet by the far end of the wall, pulling it open. The small shelves were stuffed to bursting with blankets and folded sheets, and the raven pulled a couple down, reaching far back to pull out what seemed like a sleeping bag. He dragged it all over to the space in front of the couch, pushing the coffee table to one side as Tweek watched, and the blond bit his lip hesitantly. Was Craig going to sleep? There was no way he himself would see the darkness of sleep anytime soon, thanks to his insomnia and recent 'nap', so...what was he going to do? It would be just a little creepy if he were to stay awake while Craig was asleep; what if the other woke up and thought Tweek was just staying awake to stare at him like some sort of perverse creeper? Or...or a pedophile! Which, admittedly, wouldn't make much sense; he was sure they were the same age or around it anyway and it wasn't exactly like they were little kids or whatever but still! It would be terrible!

Actually, now that he thought about it, he'd actually only be an ephebophile, which still didn't make any sense because it was really only meant toward adults wasn't it? Or so he had thought and he wasn't an adult yet unless for some reason society had changed its scale of measuring adultness just SPITE HIM which he wouldn't put past them, those goddamn crazy—

Wait, what, this would only make sense if he was attracted to Craig and he wasn't attracted to him or was he OH GOD WHAT IF HE WAS? AND HE JUST DIDNT KNOW IT?

But Craig is psychic! He KNOOOOWS!

Oh God, he is! He would! Tweek shrieked internally, tugging at his hair. No, wait, he wasn't, he was sure of it, wouldn't he know already; Goddamn, Craig was probably thinking he really WAS a crazy pervert attracted to badass ravens! And then he'd leave him down in this basement and let him be a sacrifice to unholy demonic axe murderers and goats!

Not the goats!

"Tweek..." called a voice from the darkness. The blond himself shrieked and jumped. How did the darkness know his name? Oh, fuck, they'd probably been watching him this whole time while he'd been too distracted by newly-recovered friend; watching him every time he entered the house, staring down at him from the air vents and through windows!

There was not enough time for Tweek to make his panic known (not even a half-strangled "GAAAH!") before he was booking it up the stairs. He'd tried, he really did, but he would not stand for being eaten by monsters just because his friend had apparently tamed the beasts with ungodly ninja powers!

Oh my God, what if Craig was, like, some sort of robot bait they'd made up to lure people into their den!

HOLY TAPDANCING JESUS!

Tweek was this close to the door when a strong tentacle wrapped around his waist.

Oh God this was just like one of his our Japanese animes! WE ALL KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING!

He sucked in a mighty breath, preparing his lungs for a scream, but before he could execute the action another limb clamped around his mouth.

Not that this stopped his screams of terror, but they certainly muffled them to a satisfactory amount.

Alas, eventually air fled our young, spazzing thermos-less hero(having dropped it somewhere on the basement floor to fend for itself, the poor thing), and no longer could he scream. It was around this time that the tentacles relocated, moving up to firmly grasp his face. It was totally trying to steal his face.

I KNEW IT.

Craig's face came into view, and finally Tweek was shocked into silence.

The other's eyes were squinted and staring straight into Tweek's soul. …..his scar was decidedly less disturbing than the monsters Tweek was dreaming up in his mind, he thought bemusedly.

"Dude. You have problems." Came the final verdict. Ha, as if he didn't know that himself. "It's just me. Chill."

…...so it would seem. Hmm.

"I was asking you what you wanted to watch," Craig said, waving one hand at the shelves of movies as he dragged the blond back with the other. "But you've lost your privileges.…..not really," The raven added exasperatedly, seeing Tweek's shocked look.

"Stay," Craig commanded, standing up and waltzing over to the shelf.

Tweek stayed. Too much has happened today. Toooooo much. It was really hard work being this paranoid; it had sapped all the strength of his muscles. If only he was paid to be this much of a spaz...he'd be the richest guy on the planet! But alas, he wasn't, and there was nothing left to do but sit there upon the pile of blankets, pillows, and sleeping bags (which honestly was quite comfortable) and await his doom.

Eventually Craig came back. He knelt down in front of the DVD player and put in a movie before sitting next to Tweek. Who was still in shock.

Craig tossed a look over to him before he sighed and leaned back against the couch where the covers were conveniently in front of. Tweek was still twitching every few seconds, just a little too roughly to be considered normal for him, legs jerking as though they were still planning on fleeing soon but too weak to do soon.

Oh, the woe of never having enough strength to run away after a spaz attack. Luckily he'd never been caught yet by those old-man perverts. Thank God.

But he was indeed shaken from his near comatose state was the title screen that came up after his friend clicked a few buttons.

"...I knew you were a ninja." He muttered under his breath, staring at the fat awesome panda doing his kung-fu moves across the large screen.

"Hey." Craig stopped him right there, turning in his direction and shoving a warning hand in front of his face. "Hey...hey...hey. Not even because of ninjas. Jack Black is cool."

Tweek paused, then cracked a trembling grin, and the raven nodded once in satisfaction as he leaned over to the side, somehow whipping out the blond's fallen thermos like a true master of the Hidden Way. Eyes both amazed and wondrous, Tweek reached out to take it, holding it close and scooting even closer as Craig clicked play.

Hours later and Tweek was feeling the effects of a movie marathon, his head having been filled with flashing images of ninja pandas finding their past and inner peace, shadow-boxing metal robots boxing against a god, and this really cool one with AIs and a fighting rabbit named Kazma who was also a king and really complicated card playing games in a casino. Craig...had some pretty sweet movies. Not that Tweek would really know, he himself almost never went out to the theater anymore, and he didn't trust the people at those stupid movie rental places to give him what he really wanted. Stupid, porn-pushing little bastards...

But his friend had good taste...at least in Tweek's opinion. All the movies had good endings and none of them were depressing. Perfect for him. He already had enough on his plate as it was without scary movies freaking the hell out of him and giving him even more nightmares to freak out over.

He slurped on new, hot coffee—Craig had paused the fighting rabbit movie to accompany him up to the kitchen to make some coffee secretly, which had introduced some interesting things as well as the relatively new adventure of making coffee in almost pitch blackness of a strange house and bumping into the raven at very strange angles...but that was a story for another time—as he kept his eyes trained on the talking blue parrot trying to fly off a hang glider and completely failing on the screen.

A movement caught his attention and he peeked over at Craig, who had at some point relegated himself to the couch instead of the covers and sheets, sprawled over it and letting Tweek take charge of the thick mat of covers below. The raven was still watching the movie, but his eyes had the dulled tint of tiredness, and he leaned on one arm, mouth hanging a little open as he stared away. Clearly, the guy was tired. Which, even in itself was still spectacularly fascinating, having only seen him asleep only once. After a moment of thought, the coffee-lover lifted up his thermos to the other's face, and Craig started with a barely repressed snort, taking it wordlessly and popping open the top to take a couple of gulps instead of a casual sip.

Tweek watched him rather intently, wondering if it was possible to drink something more ninja-like than normal people. He was feeling that same comfortableness around the other again, like back when they had been at ease with each other and things had been going fine; he was feeling...safe again. Safe in the fact of their friendship and that once again, things could be good. He hadn't totally screwed shit up permanently or anything.

His eyes wandered back to the scar, peeking as Craig gave him back his thermos—after putting the cap on it again to prevent spills—feeling the eeriest mixture of squeamishness and captivation as that red skin tugged and pulled with the lick the raven gave to his lips, ridding himself of lingering coffee.

"Ngh, how d-did you get that?"

The question, though an hour ago would have driven him almost absolutely mad with the certainty he was going to be kicked out of the ninja's house, only sent a stinging flurry of anxiety through him that quickly vanished, to be replaced with a throbbing mix of eagerness and apprehensiveness. Craig, to his credit, didn't even glare at him angrily or anything; he looked over with the laziest eye swipe, although the look was no longer dull or sleepy, but instead almost wary. He looked like he had been expecting this question.

Well it made sense, didn't it? Or, to Tweek it did...after all, how long could you look at something so terrible without wondering at least where it came from, much less asking about it?

Craig stared at him for a bit, then rolled onto his side, probably to look at the other better. "Why do you want to know?" It didn't sound like an accusation or angry rebuke...only a sort of limp curiosity, as if wondering what on earth would change for either of them if Tweek knew.

The coffee-lover bit his lip a bit hesitantly, sipping ta his coffee and shrugging lightly. "Hnn-mn." AKA, 'I dunno'.

The raven looked up to the ceiling for a second. "I was stupid...

"And no one looks behind them anyway."

Tweek blinked once, utterly confused as to the meaning of this cryptic statement, but Craig snorted a tiny bit, turning back to look at the television again with an almost vicious determination. Tweek sensed that something important was squirming in the other's brain, and was debating whether or not to continue asking when Craig spoke up again, voice slightly muffled by the hand he was leaning his head on again.

...it looked like he was trying to hide his scar again.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, yeah? Promise."

The blond thought it over and nodded once, scratching lightly at his still-painted face. He could deal with that...after all, he doubted Craig would break a promise like that. And after today, he certainly wasn't going to push it. Definitely not. He turned back to the television, just in time to see a slobbering bulldog free the blue parrot from the chain around his little foot.

Craig glanced over to him, reaching over with his free hand to ruffle the spiky blond mane in front of him.

"...you still look like a tranny cat, you know."

He couldn't believe it, it was all too much. Tweek screamed loudly.

"AUGHHHHHHHHH!"

He kept screaming for quite a while before finally running out of air, panting harshly, his chest heaving as a wincing Craig rubbed at his ears, looking at him quite irritably.

"What." The raven said.

Tweek was on Craig's lap before he knew it, shaking the boy in front of him by the shoulders roughly, screaming in his face. "WHY THE FUCK IS THERE NOTHING WRONG?/!"

There was nothing wrong with Craig's face; it was all perfect angles and soft slightly-tanned skin, his lips thin but somehow free of the usual look and sense of contempt and bitterness. Hell, if Tweek could admit it, Craig looked downright hot!

Craig's eyes widened slightly and he put a hand to Tweek's chest, stopping him. "Oh. Sorry, forgot about the flesh mask." And with that he peeled off the flesh look-alike. Tweek screamed again.

"AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

This time Craig was ready with a reason for the four thick, perfectly formed scars on his lips and nose. "I was attacked by a bear. And won."

Tweek's lips crashed into the raven's as he gave him his instinctive reward for being so full for kickass awesome badassery. Craig accepted it quite graciously before giving back some of his own, and then he was clutching the blond to him like a life preserver in the middle of an endless ocean, throwing him back on his bed's covers to do the job right.

And they both had lots of hawt, sweaty gay smex and pumped out tons of Creek babies (insert Sex Pistols' explanation for Mpreg here) and lived happily ever after.

The End

A/N: XDDDDDD Oh mai, thanks to powerpuffs621, I loved your idea so much I hadto write it in! LOLZ, anyway, okay, back onto the real story! Enjoy! ;D

Part Seven: Scars On The Outside

Craig's mom had just sat down on the living room couch, flipping on the television as she leaned back into the cushions, propping her feet up on the coffee table as she relaxed from her recent stress.

Now, she loved her son about as much as any parent loved their kid, but she'd still been pretty pissed that she'd had to drive all the way down to the school after being called up to be informed that 'your child has been part of an altercation on school property'. You'd think they could just say shit straight and tell her that Craig'd been in a fight again. But nooooo, they had to make shit sound all fancy and smart and end up sounding like a bunch of retards.

Can't speak proper English like normal people, she thought moodily as she popped open the tab on her soda.

And that damned bitch of a principal! Little skank ho prancing around like she owned the place just because she had a bit more power than most skank hos did. She felt a wave of fierce protectiveness as she thought about her son. A mother knows best, after all, and she knew that if Craig felt safer wearing the mask then by God, he'd wear it to her funeral, dammit! And all the trouble Craig got in...as if that stupid principal lady knew better than she did...saying her boy'd started those fights...the idiocy of it all!

Fucking dumbasses...

Sighing, she took a gulp of the carbonated drink, relishing the taste and peace of her household...

And a scream shattered the air.

Choking on her drink, she coughed some onto her chest and legs, trying to breathe as she shot up. What the hell? Tweek's scream—because she knew it was him—sounded terrified, horrible and full of fear. And while she'd heard such a scream once before when he'd been freaked out from that stupid videogame, something about it tugged at her and she almost slammed her drink down on the table, racing up the stairs.

As brusque as she was, she liked Tweek. He was a good, smart kid, even if he did look like he was doing drugs because of all the damned twitching, but he was the first friend Craig had made since the incident. And that really meant something to her. So, her mother bear instincts fully roused, she tore down the second story hallway, kicking open her son's door in a fit of powerful strength.

What met her eyes...confused her.

Tweek and Craig were on the floor locked in some kind of wrestling match…and it looked like Tweek was winning. He had his thin arm under Craig's right, hooked over her son's chest as he tried to pull him back, still screaming and shrieking something. Craig, on the other hand, was yelling as well, looking both confused and irritated as he flailed around on the floor; his free arm and legs were pushing on the floor, trying to lift himself up. The blond wasn't letting him, though, giving one mighty pull and effectively ruining Craig's efforts as he flopped back onto the ground.

She noticed right off the bat that her son wasn't wearing his mask.

Feeling as if she might pop a vein at any second, she roared, "What the fuck is going ON IN HERE?"

They both froze and looked over to her as if just noticing her arrival, even though she'd almost kicked down the door no less than ten seconds ago.

The Tweek boy was the first to speak, although it took her a few seconds to actually understand the blathering near-sobs he cried in her direction. "—gotta get him to –ngh- a HOSPITAL c-c-call the police oh Jesus, we g-gotta save his LIFE!" He suddenly let go of Craig, letting him hit the floor with a thump and a 'fuck!', grabbing him by both sides of the face as he screamed, "DON'T GO INTO THE LIGHT, CRAIG, DON'T GO INTO THE LIIIIIIGHT!"

She looked at him with a mix of confusion, pity, and exasperation, raising a single eyebrow in a way that was remarkably similar to Craig. He'd had to learn it from someplace, after all. "What the fuck are you talking about."

Tweek's head snapped around to pierce her with a look of utter disbelief, and he turned Craig's head toward her. Her son, for his part, seemed to have given up completely on escaping the crazy boy and looked at his mother in patient weariness, heaving a silent sigh. Tweek was once again shrieking.

"For th-the love of all things coffee, can't you s-s-see his face?" He looked down at Craig again, shaking him desperately. "Don't die on me, man! Breathe! BREATHE!"

Craig's mother stared at him for a second, and then raised a hand to rub at her forehead, shaking her head slowly. "Oh my God…" she turned around, still trying to rub away the oncoming headache as she stalked off in the direction of the stairs. "Damn brats interrupting my relaxation time…"

Tweek was stunned; his left eyebrow twitched as he stared after her in both shock and horror. How…how could she just walk away? From her son, from Craig of all people, the awesome badass ninja that was probably going to kill him for his past treachery and the way he was acting now, how could she just turn her back when the raven needed immediate medical attention to keep the very life within his BODY!

He shook Craig's face again, screaming violently, "What i-is this world –ngh– COMING T—" before a hand to the face stopped both his words and shaking abruptly.

The raven gave him a narrow-eyed glare, his palm pressing over Tweek's nose and mouth. The blond blinked through the spaces between each finger, unsure of what to do or think. "No shaking. Shaking bad." He gave Tweek's face a nudge with his hand, making it shake back and forth. "Bad Tweek. Bad. Okay?"

The coffee-addict gave a tiny nod and Craig nudged his face again. "Good boy. Now let go of my face."

Tweek tried to muddle out a protest about Craig dying but the other shook his head, making Tweek's head shake as well. "Ah-ah-ah…no. I'm not dying. So chill out and shut up, 'kay?"

There was a pause before the blond nodded and drew his hands back from the raven's face, his fingers running inevitably over the ridges and lines of the damage on Craig's skin. Craig gave a 'hmph' and removed his hand as well, standing up and going over to sit on his bed again. Tweek decided to stay on the floor, crossing his legs in front of him as he stared at Craig. His fingertips tingled with the phantom sensation of the scar underneath them.

The scar.

That single first look had lasted an eternity to him, and Tweek couldn't have done anything but stare at it as the image tried to make its way into his brain to be processed. It was…it was…

In one word, it was horrifying. Tweek couldn't think of anything that would have left a scar on someone's face like that, and the fact that it was on Craig made his brain feel like it was about to be a victim of a ruptured vein and resulting hemorrhage. How could he, of all people in the world, have possibly gotten something like that?

The first thing he noticed...was how big it was. It stretched from the point of the raven's left cheek and traveled down diagonally, intersecting his lips as it ended on the right side of his jaw, near his chin. It wasn't thin either, some white line that you could easily look past and wave off on his appearance. It was thick, almost half an inch in width, and bumpy as tiny, twisted ridges of flesh ran through.

The second thing that drew his eye was the color. It was red. Not the kind of red like you'd been pinched or maybe slapped, but the kind of nasty red you get when you pull back a rubber band as far as it can go and snap it on the inner crease of your elbow. The kind of red barely-healing wounds are, the kind of red that makes you think, 'ow, that's gotta hurt'.

Tweek couldn't take his eyes off of it.

It wasn't just the length, or just the color of it; each separate thing was bad, but it was the overall effect it all had together that made you unable to look away, made you feel a shiver pass down your spine as your fought not to rub at your own cheek and lips. Where the scar passed over his lips, it pulled the flesh so that you could see the peek of white incisors underneath. It almost gave the appearance that he was smiling, which was both unsettling and very, very creepy.

Tweek wasn't sure if he would've preferred seeing the mask instead right now.

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat, and Tweek was startled to find that Craig was staring at him with an irritable and slightly expectant look on his face.

"You done yet?"

The blond jumped, fingers twitching as they knotted in the hem of his shirt. "W-with what?"

Craig rolled his eyes, exhaling noisily. His leg twitched. Tweek's eyes widened as he stared at how the scar pulled and tugged at the motion of the muscles, caught up in the sight. "Staring."

"Gah!" Tweek squeaked, covering his eyes and bending forward so fast he smacked his head on the carpeted floor. "S-sorry, oh Jesus, wh-what if I i-i-infected it, I'm so sorry!"

A pause, another sigh and the creak of movement on the bed; Tweek peeked up to see the raven lying on his belly on top of the covers, scarred cheek resting on one hand as he looked down at Tweek in bemusement. Tweek had the weirdest sense that he was trying to hide it. His tone was just the teeniest bit exasperated. "Infected it with what?"

Tweek tried to keep his eyes firmly on the raven's own blue ones and not anywhere else as he whispered, "The Evil Eye..."

...

"You're weird." Craig finally chuckled, his lips curling up in the smallest grin. Tweek could have almost fainted in shock. There it was! There it finally was! A smile! A smile on Craig Tucker's face and he was looking at it without the mask being on! Sure, it wasn't the way he had imagined it would happen, or look like, and in all honesty it was both fascinating and freaky to see but it was there and Tweek felt like he had just achieved Nirvana.

Or, y'know, something close to it.

Tweek flushed anyway. "It c-could happen!"

"Oh really. How."

The coffee-lover opened his mouth to explain...and then shut it. Hmm, how would his gaze infect Craig's scar with the Evil Eye? First off, it didn't have an eye to infect (Jesus, that'd be freaky!) and you had to actually have the Evil Eye to curse anybody with it and to even have the Evil Eye you had to be evil! And Tweek didn't think he was evil!

...or WAS HE?

Horrified, he looked up at Craig to ask him if he could possibly be evil and what he could do to fix the obviously gaping black hole in his evil little soul, when the red caught his eye again and what instead came out was, "...d-does it hurt?"

The raven looked taken-aback for a second, blinking slowly as he remained silent. A moment passed before he shuffled to rest his weight on his forearms, gesturing vaguely to the scar on his face in askance and Tweek nodded dumbly. The other looked at the blond with an almost curious look on his face but shook his head. "Nah...can't feel anything on it, actually."

Tweek's eyes got even wider. "Ngh, r-really?"

"Yeah, the nerves are shot." Craig ran a finger down the bumpy ridge, then to the unblemished skin next to it. He seemed hesitant; Tweek twitched at the thought. "Everything else is fine, though. It's just...this part that's numb."

Tweek was quiet for a moment, studying the mar carefully as he wondered who...or what could have possibly injured the amazing Craig Tucker in such a way. He shuddered at imagining how it must have looked like when he had actually gotten it. Carefully going up on hands and knees, he approached the raven, his curiosity itching to get a closer look. Craig wouldn't mind, right? He'd been the one to reveal it after all, of his own free will, so he shouldn't have a problem with Tweek getting a closer look...before he knew it he was right in front of the other, his nose barely an inch away from the ridged scar.

Biting his lip anxiously, he examined it, so riveted he didn't see the tremor that passed through Craig's body as he drew closer. The red that he thought was just one color was actually varied; there were hints of pink in it that you couldn't see until you were as close as Tweek was. It sort of looked like he'd been burned, but for some reason Tweek didn't think that was the cause for this. There was something...too dull about it to be a burn scar. Steadying himself on one hand he leaned forward the tiniest millimeter, reaching to touch a finger to it carefully, dragging it down slowly. Craig twitched again; Tweek didn't notice that either.

He'd felt the scar while he'd been spazzing out and trying to drag Craig out of the room to receive medical attention, but this time he was actually focusing on it, on the way it felt underneath his fingers, the skin just the tiniest hint stiffer than the skin of his unmarked cheek.

Tongue poking from the corner of his lips as he concentrated, a small frown came to crease his brow. Another finger joined the first in its traversal of the ridged skin, and Tweek came to reluctant conclusion that it really was skin.

It was skin, and no matter how it twisted Craig's appearance or brought to mind a misplaced Joker-like scar worthy of Heath Ledger, it didn't seem to be dissolving/eating the flesh of the raven's face, nor was it reacting under his fingers and lunging at his eyes, or anything else worthy of his panic. It was a simple scar that was part of Craig's skin, and it wasn't oozing pus, or bleeding profusely, and it looked about as healed as it would ever be. It was just a scar...and frankly, it was less mysterious—and thus less scary—than the mask.

The conclusion came reluctantly only because there was a lingering part of Tweek deep inside that was loathe to give up the idea of it coming alive and snapping off his fingers.

What could he say? He was just a bit paranoid about these things...

Tweek had finished examining the mar; his fear for now had been sated but his curiosity's not nearly enough; his fascination at its mere presence on someone like Craig Tucker and the way it felt held its place within him. He would have continued rubbing carefully at it, pinning it beneath his curious gaze, if it wasn't for Craig's wince and barely-breathed utterance.

"Ow."

"OH MY GOD, I'M SO SORRY!" Tweek didn't know he could do a backflip so quickly, although it wasn't a backflip so much as a desperate roll done so rapidly his butt hit the floor before he was quite aware that it had moved off of the floor in the first place. His momentum landed him flat in his back, knees drawn up to his chest and hands clamped over his eyes, looking like some human-esque version of an overturned beetle trying to get up, thanks to all his shaking.

Tweek was a bit frantic. "I-I didn't mean to h-h-hurt you, oh gah! God, are you BLEEDING?" He squealed, still shielding his eyes with his hands to avoid looking at the horrendous sight of the copious, gratuitous amount of BLOOD that he had surely caused to gush out of control!

There was a bit of a pause before Craig made a noise that sounded vaguely apologetic and almost like a cough. "...I'm...I'm kidding, Tweek, I'm fine."

The blond was still(ish), his hands refusing to give up their places over his face just in case Craig was wrong. "Are...are y-you -ngh- s-sure?"

"Yeah."

"...m-maybe you should double-check."

"...Tweek, I'm fine."

With another small whimper, Tweek hesitantly spread his fingers, lifting his head just enough to peek through his hands and over his legs, nervously meeting Craig's gaze. The raven stared back at him, arms crossed on the sheets as he lay on his stomach; indeed his face was perfectly fine and clear of any horrendous gouts of blood. He made that cough-noise again, moving a hand so he could rest his left cheek on it, and again Tweek got the sense he was trying to hide the scar in some discreet way.

"If you want, I can put the mask on again."

The words snapped Tweek out of his thoughts abruptly, and he jumped, sitting up quickly. "N-no, no! It's okay!"

The raven's brows rose, and Tweek flushed. "Ah...I-I don't...it's...ngh..."

"It still freak you out?"

The blond nodded slowly, fingertips digging into his palms as he looked away. It seemed somehow insulting to say that the mask was actually scary. It...made Tweek feel bad to admit it. There was a bit of a silence, and Tweek began to squirm under it's heavy presence before Craig sat up on the bed, letting out a tired sigh as he tucked his legs underneath himself. "It's fine Tweek, don't worry 'bout it." He rubbed at the corner of his jaw, fingertips trailing over the bit of scar that curved below his chin as he continued hesitantly. "...not used to this. It's on my own terms...to a friend...but still i—oufhhh!"

Craig didn't get much farther than that, because he was suddenly subject to a flying Tweek and a rapid tumble that landed him face-up on the bed with a blond clamped tight around his waist. "What..."

Tweek's heart had stopped around the first syllable of the word 'friend', as his lungs did more or less the same, unwilling to let himself hope that what he thought that word might be was actually it. Because there was no way that Craig thought they were still friends, right? There was no possible way. It was enough that he wasn't ignoring him, that he wasn't looking at him in disgust or anger and was actually talking to him right now...it was enough that he wasn't seeking to punish Tweek, and that he had seemingly forgiven him for betraying him while he slept...that he had willingly let him see the secret that he had harbored under his mask...it was enough for Tweek, more than enough or had dared himself to hope for. To ask or beg for anything else would be unforgivably selfish and arrogant.

He would not let himself think that he would still have that honor of being able to call Craig Tucker 'friend'. It was too much.

And then Craig had gone and said it like it was yesterday's news.

'...on my own terms...to a friend...'

Tweek buried his face in the other's chest, fighting to keep his voice coherent. "Ngh...r-really? I'm really st-still...ngh, your f-f-friend?" His voice invariably rose to a squeak by the end. Because it didn't matter that Craig had that scar, or that it was the tiniest bit creepy to look at, or that it made him the slightest bit nervous, or even that he had gone through days of mental torture, when it all paled to the knowledge that Craig might possibly still consider him a friend.

His arms tightened a little on the other's waist as the other took a breath to answer.

"...should you not be...?" Craig asked slowly.

The blond would have fallen to his knees if he hadn't already been lying on top of the raven, fingers clutching tightly the fabric of Craig's hoodie. He sniffled once, twice, quivering madly. "Th-thank...y-y-yo-uuwaahhhh..." For the first time since he'd been kicked out of Craig's house almost a week and a half ago, Tweek began to cry, feeling as if he was finally ridding himself of all the weight that had burdened him on the inside.

Craig was left to bear a sobbing Tweek, staring up at the ceiling as he felt the shivering bundle shake on his chest and cling to him like a baby koala. His face clearly holding a '...shit, what am I supposed to do now?' look, he hesitantly wrapped an arm around the blond's back, holding him tight as his other hand carefully began to pet the wild blond mane tickling the flesh of his neck.

His cheeks were lightly flushed, but that could have simply been because the room was a bit hot.

Tweek felt the other's arm come around him, offering him comfort—just like an actual friend would—and he cried even harder, sobbing out some kind of grateful 'thank you's that were lost in his blubbering and just sounded like incoherent wails. He could almost feel the tangible stranglehold that lump in his throat had on him disappear slowly, as if with every hitching sob and breath it was made smaller and smaller, until it was gone completely.

It was...so, so liberating to finally have it gone.

The raven, if he were any other person, might have protested against the unjust watery abuse his hoodie was taking, instead of just continuing to pet the sobbing bundle on him with a calmness that many people would envy. But then again, Craig Tucker wasn't most people and though we may not know what was running through his head in that very moment, it certainly wasn't anything bad enough to warrant a disposal of the blond on the floor or whatnot. He just lay there silently as his facial expression slowly calmed, the only movements of his body being his chest moving in slow deep breaths, the soothing motion of his hand though the coffee-lover's hair, and the ever-so-subtle tightening of his other arm around Tweek.

Tweek cried until he couldn't cry anymore, snuffling softly into Craig's damp front as hiccups made his body twitch, and the vague thought made its way into his head, that this might not have been the driest place, but it was certainly the warmest...and the most comfortable...that'd he'd felt in a long, long while...

He finally fell asleep with the tiniest sigh, going limp completely as his hands loosened their clutching hold on the blue hoodie. Craig peeked down at him in surprise, his hand stilling its petting motion as he took in Tweek's closed eyes and slight sleep-twitches; the blond shuddered and mumbled something unintelligible before sighing again, his lips parted as he breathed in and out. The raven spared him another moment, as if to make sure he was really asleep, before lifting himself up with one hand to sit up on the bed. Tweek squirmed a little bit as he was moved but quickly settled down, making little smacking sounds with his tongue and twitching hands that now lay on his stomach into grabbing positions; almost as if he were clutching a thermos he had never let go of.

Craig's scarred lips curled in what could have almost been a smile, or some kind of twitching muscle spasm of evil epilepsy, before he clutched at the sleeping blond with one arm, leaning over his bed to reach under the mattress with his free hand. His fingers prodded what he had been searching for and he drew it out slowly, nearing it to Tweek's face.

That scarred smile never left his own.

Tweek felt warm and comfortable, and he licked his lips somewhat greedily, imagining that he was wrapped in a great coffee gelatin shaped like a flan, still warm and toasty and right out of the giant flan coffeemaker of sweetness...he could almost even taste the coffee on his tongue, and hear the dull bounce-like noises of the coffee flan as it moved and shot bullets...

...bullets?

The blond gave a twitch and blearily opened his eyes, almost panicking when he couldn't before he realized his tears had dried them shut. Belatedly reaching up a hand to wipe at them, he froze as he remembered.

Tears...crying...Craig! Bolting up, he wiped at his eyes frantically, blinking to clear them faster as he stared about in stunned surprise. He was still on Craig's bed, and someone—most likely the raven himself—had draped a blanket over him. Said raven who was sitting by the edge of the bed by the wall, staring avidly at the television screen in front of him.

With the mask still on his face.

Tweek blinked stupidly, a crushing disappointment running through him. Had he imagined it all? ...dreamed it? Could all of it, the unmasking, the revelation of the truth, have been merely some sleeping fantasy he had come up with? But then...what was with the tears? And how had he gotten here? Could he have possibly dreamed ever trying to unmask Craig, the isolation, everything? ….what had gone on?

He peered around and grabbed his thermos from where it lay by the wall, sipping at the by-now cold liquid inside to try and quell the rising letdown in his chest as his mouth opened to speak. Craig beat him to it. "...finally woke up, huh."

Tweek had never before hated the slight muffled-ness to the raven's voice so much before.

"Y-yeah..." The blond didn't know where to look, avoiding Craig's masked glance as he peeked at the television, which was playing some sort of action movie; as he watched, some guy flipped a car over a makeshift ramp and blew up a helicopter. While it was still in the sky.

Wow.

"U-um..." he started hesitantly, worrying the thermos between his palms. "How...long have I b-been -ngh- a-asleep?"

The raven was silent for a minute before he finally answered, not even deeming to look at Tweek and for some reason the blond's heart sank at the observation. "A couple of hours." He paused his movie, but still didn't look at the blond near him. "You been staying up late?"

The coffee lover cast his gaze around hesitantly, unsure of how to respond. How do you answer a question for something that might not even have existed? "I-I guess...uh, did -erk- a-anything...happen before I feel asleep?" It was the closest he could get to directly asking whether or not Craig had unmasked himself and revealed his secret to Tweek. Or at least, the closest thing he could think to ask right now.

All he got in response was a shrug. "Not really."

Any bit of hope Tweek had felt that it might not have been a dream faded, flickered and died at those words, and he couldn't help the sad downturn to his lips as he fiddled with the lid of his thermos. "Oh."

Then Craig finally turned his gaze to him, and Tweek was almost astounded to see a quirk to his toothed mask, a twitch at the very corners like he wanted to laugh. The other cleared his throat quite conspicuously, another weird thing in Tweek's book, and looked away again to gesture at the television. "You wanna stay? I got a movie playing...and mom ordered pizza."

Tweek cocked his head curiously despite himself, and saw that same twitch come again to Craig's mask. He decided to ignore that for the moment though, concentrating on the words. "...stay? Do...d-do I have t-t-to -ngh- leave?" Was Craig hinting at kicking him out?

Craig looked at him and blinked once, and Tweek was once again struck by that same helpless despair he felt at seeing the fanged mask, with that same damned grin, leering at him. Why oh why, did his mind have to torture him with such a dream of pain, truth, and relief? As if he weren't already stressed enough, now he had to question his own sanity and whether or not any it had been real! Which it surely hadn't...the thought only saddened Tweek some more and he took another sip from his thermos, unable to help the pout that trembled on his lips. He was distracted, however, by Craig jerking his head in the direction of his window and Tweek peeked over, startled by what he saw.

It was very, very dark outside.

"Gah! Oh God, what time is it?" He squealed, somehow finding himself standing on the carpet without any idea as to when he got off the bed, and completely distracted from his sorrows. Oh sweet potato-loving Jesus, the night outside was way WAY darker than the last time he had overstayed at Craig's house a while back, and he wasn't sure he could make it home without being attacked and killed! No, he wasn't ready to DIE!

Craig made that twitch motion again, checking his watch quite casually. "11:45."

Tweek gave him a look of the utmost horror and was unamused when the other slowly turned red, as if he was holding his breath for some godforsaken reason. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and a restless, almost painful shudder passed through him, leaving him crouched on the floor as a whimper passed from his lips. Jesus. Oh God. His parents were gonna kill him; he had never stayed out so late before, with or without their permission, sweet Jesus, what should he do he was in so much trouble they'd take away his coffee and thermos and and and—

"I called your parents two hours ago." Came the nonchalantly blank tone of Craig's voice, and Tweek raised somewhat teary eyes, who was leaning over the edge of the bed, propped up on his forearms as he gave him a hooded look.

"...w-what?"

"Didn't think you were gonna wake up, so," he shrugged lightly.

The blond looked around anxiously, as if worried that his mom and dad might jump out at him from the depths of Craig's closet and snatch his thermos in punishment before running laughing maniacally into the dark.

...what? It could happen.

"S-so...I'm -ngh- n-not in trouble?" He asked slowly.

Craig shook his head, sitting up. "Chill, okay?" There was a knock at the door and Tweek shrieked and jumped onto the bed, while the raven rolled his eyes and sat silently. The door opened and in walked the raven's mother, holding up three boxes of pizza as she grumbled and cursed under her breath.

"Next time watch where you order from you little brat," she spat at Craig, grinding her teeth together. "I swear, that little delivery boy was one smart-ass comment away from a foot in the ass, 'cause God kno—" She caught sight of Tweek cowered on the bed and froze, the words abruptly stopping in their tracks. And then she started hysterically laughing.

Tweek cocked his head in puzzlement and she laughed even harder, nearly dropping the boxes of pizza in her hands. She couldn't even breathe, her faced turned red, and Tweek glanced over worriedly at the raven to see if something terrible was happening to his mother. Because it was starting to look like they might need some serious medical attention directed here. Tweek wondered in the back of his head how long it would take him to reach a phone to call 911, and how long it would take them to respond to their call and get here.

Craig however, was looking at him with an expression of barely contained amusement, the fact cemented by the fact that his mask was lifted at the corners in an undeniable grin. He looked as if he were close to bursting out in laughter too. Tweek was feeling very left out by this point and he pouted, trying to glare at the both of them. He had the very suspicious feeling they were both laughing at him for some crazy reason. "W-what?" He demanded.

The woman by the doorway didn't answer, too busy trying to breathe, and she put the pizzas down on the bed next to Craig, walking out of the room as she wiped tears from his face. Tweek stood dumbfounded. What was going on today? First he had woken up from the most strangest and realistic dream ever, was seemingly safe from punishment by parents and now Craig's mom was laughing at him! Hysterically! Even Craig seemed amused by whatever she had been laughing at...him, he thought.

Tweek crossed his arms, a feeling rising in him reminiscent of how he had felt in the principal's office when he had defended Craig. No, he reminded himself inside, that wasn't real, it was a dream. You're just mad.

Damn straight you're mad! His mind scoffed. Whispering and staring and muttering is one thing but he's laughing at you!

I'm sure he doesn't mean it, Tweek tried to calm himself. He's just...thinking of a funny joke or something. Another dead baby joke.

Uh huh. Why did his mom laugh then?

...well, she's just weird.

True dat, brah.

Tweek looked to Craig, trying to put an expression on his face that spoke business. A ninja face. "W-what's so -ngh- f-f-funny?"

Craig shrugged, his face returning to its usual blandness. "Dunno. My mom is weird." He gestured lazily to the pizza as he returned his gaze to the movie. "Pizza's there if you want it."

The blond gave the raven a suspicious look but crept over to the pizza, peeking inside the first box hesitantly in case one of those weird plastic snakes was rigged to jump out at him. Those pizza delivery guys were crazy pranksters looking for cheap thrills...Tweek shuddered internally, thinking back on his experiences with the psychos. But nothing popped out, save for the warm curls of steam wafting out, all smelling of hot cheese.

Mmm, cheese...

Tweek flipped it open the rest of the way eagerly, putting his thermos down on the floor to grab a slice, perching on the edge of the bed to dig in. Craig didn't make a move to join him, but that was normal. In all the time Tweek had seen him, Craig never ate or drank when there were other people around...his secret was apparently great enough that he would make that sacrifice if it meant he could keep his mask on. The coffee lover was by now used to this, so he merely concentrated on the wonders of such a treat; he didn't normally put his trust in those damn delivery guys, so he didn't have food like this often. He was mainly restricted to the small snacks he had through out the day.

But this...this was heaven.

The grease of the heavy slice stained his fingertips and chin as he finished, and he looked around for something to wipe it off with. "D-do you have any..."

"Mom leaves the napkins under the first box, remember?" Craig interjected, putting the movie on pause. Tweek nodded and pushed the box with the back of his hand, unwilling to put the oily substance on it. He grabbed one of the napkins, wiping his hands and mouth clean.

When he pulled the napkin back, however, there were smears of black and pink on it.

...the hell?

"Arghhh, Jesus Christ! The pizza was p-poisoned!" Tweek shrieked, flinging the napkin away. "Th-they put lead p-paint in it!" He flailed away, dropping off the bed as one of his kicking legs hooked below the first pizza box and sent it flying into the air.

Thankfully it closed as it landed, so the pizza was saved.

Not that it should have been saved, damn poisoned treats...

Tweek was a bit too far gone to really take this in, wiping his hands frantically across his lolling tongue, as if he could vanquish the poison that was already swimming in his belly, digging through his intestines into his precious bloodstream! No, not his blood! HE NEEDED THAT DAMMIT!

The blond was seriously considering shoving his fingers down his throat and puking, right then and there on Craig's nice carpeted floor, if it would save his life, when he heard a slightly familiar and not too comforting sound.

Snickering.

Stunned, the coffee lover turned to face Craig, who was the source of the noise, laying back on his bed against the wall and laughing quietly to himself, the noises muffled by the black cloth stretched over his face. He was staring at Tweek with the expression of one who was just barely holding back hysteria, and as Tweek watched incredulously, eye twitching, a loud snort broke though and the raven hunched forward, turning redder by the minute.

And then it hit him. Craig had used his ninja skills to magically poison his pizza! And he was laughing because he'd eaten it! …...HE'D BEEN POISONED, DAMMIT!

Tweek ran screaming from Craig's room, intent on rushing to the bathroom and it's porcelain throne to empty his poison-filled stomach before rushing out of his murderer's house, the dark and all those perverts be damned!

Just as he practically bounced off the door, having somewhat slammed into it, and rushed his way in, he glanced toward the mirror, and saw pink and black-rimmed eyes staring back at him. He shrieked even louder, thudding into the wall as he tried to jerk away, and only succeeded in bumping his head quite painfully. Whimpering as he crouched down, rubbing the back of his head, Tweek peeked up over the sink and to the mirror again, eyes widening at what he saw. It wasn't some strange colored monster living in Craig's bathroom that he had seen, it was him! The blond peeked up a little farther, inching closer to the mirror to take a closer look. There were pink and black splotches everywhere on his face, lining his cheeks, blotched in giant spots over his eyes and nose, even some around his lips; Tweek gasped as he took it all in, horrified.

The poison was too fast-acting to stop, it had already caused facial discoloration! Oh GOD, he was going to diieeeeeee!

The coffee-addict let out an anguished howl that would have shook the windows had he not been half sobbing and whimpering already. Whyyyy? He had so much to live for! So many sights he'd never see, so much coffee he'd never get to taste! If it had all been a dream, why had Craig done this to him, what could he have possibly done to prevent this? He must have been planning this from day one, letting Tweek get closer to him and luring away his guard just to KILL HIM!

"Qu'est-ce que j'ai jamais fait pour mériter ça?" Tweek wailed, falling to his knees.

There was more mirthful laughing from the doorway, and the blond looked up to the still red-faced Craig leaning on the doorway. "Tweek," the raven choked out between laughs. "Tweek you...y-you speak French?"

"Je ne sais pas comment parler français!" The other squawked in indignation. Craig just stared at him and burst out laughing again. Tweek howled again, pulling at his hair. Now the poison was affecting his brain! Oh God would the torture never stop?

The homicidal, poison-obsessed raven was crouched on the floor now, appearing only seconds away from just dropping and rolling on it in hysterical laughter. "I haven't...I haven't poisoned you, Tweek." He managed to gasp out.

The blond rounded on the raven, dragging him up by the shirt collar viciously. "LIIIIES!" He shrieked, shaking the other back and forth as he knelt on the floor. Craig's mask was grinning at him as the other lost himself in laughter, barely stuttering out a, "Washable marker...!"

The coffee-addict stopped, taking in those words as he loosened his grip on Craig's shirt. "W-what?"

The raven got himself under control and gestured vaguely to the mirror. Tweek let go of his prey and stood up hesitantly, peering at the mirror with a bit more clear-headed focus.

….. "My -ngh- G-God." Only now, that Craig had somewhat pointed it out, did Tweek realize the lines were whiskers on his cheeks, and the black and pink on his eyes were evenly distributed to each eyelid: black on the bottom, pink on the top, the edges feathering out like eyelashes. The black on his nose was like an inverted triangle, rounded at the corner like a kitten's nose, and the black on his lips perfectly covered them, instead of being a random sickness-induced blotch as he had so previously assumed.

Tweek's decorated eye twitched. "You've made me i-into a -augh- t-tranny cat."

This only resulted into Craig falling into fits of hysterical laughter again at his sure workmanship, and Tweek turned to look at him with what he was certain was the most deadpan look he had ever managed. Okay. So obviously, this was not poison, just Craig playing a trick on him. Like any one of his usual attempts. Hmm. He was slightly regretting his freakout now. He wondered if he could have some more pizza now.

Craig, meanwhile, was still on the floor holding his stomach and he pulled down his mask, gulping in air. "Fuck...getting hard to breathe." He chuckled, casting another look at Tweek. The blond gasped, collapsing on his hands and knees instantly to approach Craig. He...he could barely believe it.

"I...it w-wasn't a dream?"

Those scarred lips turned in a skeptical smile.