He honestly hadn't even thought about Tweak for what- six, seven years now?
The Tweek Bros coffeeshop really hadn't been the best coffee. Sure, it had been a small, family run business, and it had survived off the kindness of the locals of South Park for quite a few years but… sometime in third grade Craig could remember the inevitable finally happening, and the business went under. Or… they sold out to Harbucks? Either way, the Tweaks only stuck around for a few more weeks until they vanished just like their business.
In retrospect, Craig could recall Tweak seeming even more on edge than usual during those few weeks. Or maybe that was just his memory playing tricks on him now. It seemed easy to kick himself and try to say that he should have known something was wrong, but… he had also been a child. A ten-year-old, snot nosed fourth grader who was infatuated with flipping people off. Even if he had any sort of inclining that there was something off with the Tweek's sudden move from South Park, what could he have done?
Or maybe that was just his own attempt to try to absolve himself from any lingering guilt.
Waiting until the last minute to do a school project was why he was out tromping in the woods with dark rapidly approaching on a wednesday night, camera clutched tightly in gloved hands. Photography had been a fun hobby that Craig had discovered he had an eye for, but he couldn't say he enjoyed the amount of work that went into it. Having to go out hunting for the perfect shot when he wasn't feeling it was more of a hassle than he liked, though, and regret over taking an actual class on it was seeping in like the cold that was numbing his face and fingers.
The shutter clicked as he found himself taking a few aimless shots of the trees. An attempt was made to include squirrels and birds, but his haphazard approach had them scurrying away long before he could actually take the shot. Nothing was going to make for a good picture, let alone for anything higher than a 'B', but at least he would get the assignment done.
A crack behind him and Craig whirled, camera raised.
A click. A flash.
And a panicked blond staring back at him.
The figure- the person should not have been out in the cold. Craig was dress appropriately in jeans, sweater, black parka, boots, hat and gloves. The other looked like he just had on a hospital gown. Bare feet, bare hands, and the exposed skin was pale and faint tinged blue as well as scraped and bruised. He couldn't have been out in the cold for that long, or else he could have looked worse, but he definitely shouldn't have been out there looking like that.
"Holy shit dude." Craig blinked before laughing, the reaction a gut one he couldn't really control. "Did you escape from the hospital or something? Or get lost trying to get to one?" It was followed up by an awkward attempt to smile as the camera strap was hung around his neck, making it eas(ier) for him to unzip his jacket and start to slip out of it.
The figure just stared at him, almost as if he was afraid of what Craig was going to do.
"Here, put this on." The dark jacket was held out to the other and given a light shake for emphasis. Pale fingers hesitantly traced along the edge before the blond snatched it away, hugging it greedily to his chest before putting it on. All Craig could really do was let out a snort and shake his head, amused by the way the other was reacting.
"Right. C'mon, I'm parked off the road this way." And a vague gesture back in the direction that Craig had initially tromped through the woods. Running into someone who looked like they had escaped from a hospital was the beginning of every terrible zombie flick ever, but he wasn't able to be the heroine of a bad b-rated flick. He pulled his phone out, flicking through a few apps to make sure he would be heading back in the right direction and to turn the flashlight on. "I can take you back if you come with me. Car's a bit of a rust bucket but the heat works, at least."
"N… No."
The blond had shrugged the coat on quickly before taking a few steps back. During their brief moments on interaction the sun had fallen further in the sky, forcing Craig to have to shine the flashlight to see the imprints left, and he winced at the slight red tinge in the snow that was visible. "Dude, come on." Wasn't there something about the cold that could do this to people? Paradoxical stripping was A Thing, though that wouldn't explain why the stranger had so eagerly pulled the coat on. "You're clearly hurt and freezing."
"N-no-"
"Yes."
Compared to some (really, most) of the other boys in South Park, Craig had always been a bastion of patience. Foul-mouthed without a doubt and maybe he had a bit of a habit of impulsively flicking people off when he shouldn't have, but overall he was fairly calm and projected that onto those around him. So when the stranger tried to back off he just stepped forward and reached out to take his wrist in hand, doing his best to offer a comforting smile coupled with a slight tug. "You're gonna feel a ton better once you get somewhere warm and doctors can look after you and-"
"I-i-i said n-n-no Craig!"
The blond seemed to jerk unnaturally at that, head contorting to the side as his shoulder snapped up. It was followed by an attempt to pull away, but he wasn't strong enough to pull himself out of Craig's grasp. What had initially been a loose hold had turned into something a little tighter hearing his name, and the strange movements were setting off sparks of recognition along his memory.
It had been years but it was funny how quickly those memories could come falling back into place.
"... Tweak?" A panicked breath caught in the blond's throat, but Craig didn't let him pull away. "Tweak, Jesus… what happened to you…"
This really wasn't the time for this.
Craig found himself glancing around the dark woods before nodding, a decision made. "Okay. Scratch the hospital. You still need out of the woods though. My place okay?" There would be a few… more than a few, actually, kinks he would have to work out, but it wasn't like Craig would have to worry about his mom paying attention to what he was doing.
The look the Tweak shot him erased any doubts that Craig might have had over whether or not this was a good idea. He looked exhausted, worn thin, and so very grateful at the offer of having a place to spend the night. A place that wasn't a hospital lab. It left Craig with more than a few questions, but they were ones he could get answers to later.
An arm slipped around Tweak's midsection to help support him as Craig started to walk with him back to the car. The blond made an attempt to try to walk on his own for just a moment before giving in and leaning against him, hobbling with the dark-haired-male back to his car.
