But mom, no one goes to his parties," Kenny whines as his mom stirs at a pot of minute rice. "Stan and Kyle don't have to go."
"Kenny, if you don't stop bitching at your mom, I'll come over there and give you something to complain about," his dad calls from the couch.
Kenny looks at his mom, whose mouth has fallen into a flat line. With her eyes fixed on his dad she replies, "Don't listen to him, Kenny. He wouldn't get his fat lazy ass off that couch even if he had a whore's beaver three feet from his face."
"Ew," Kenny wrinkles his nose as his parents launch into a full-on screaming match. His mom knows how to paint a colorful picture, but that still doesn't mean half of what she says is appropriate for her thirteen-year-old son to hear.
Not that that's ever been a pressing concern in this house anyway. Though, now that his parents are fighting, he might be able to sneak away and hide in his room with the fat stack of comics he just blew the rest of his birthday money on.
He doesn't even make it to the bottom stair before his mom is back on him, though. "Kenneth McCormick, you get back here," she snaps. "You're going to that poor boy's party and you're gonna like it, mister."
Kenny makes the grave mistake of whining again, which earns him a smack upside the head. Before he knows it, he's being tugged out of the house by his ear.
"Ma, Jesus Christ, that hurts!" he yelps. That gets him slapped hard.
"You take the Lord's name in vain again and you see what happens," she warns, and Kenny knows not to cross her again. She pulls him along by the sleeve of his parka, which is already starting to fall apart anyway, and ends up walking him all the way across town to the Stotches' house. He doesn't want to say anything, but the party isn't supposed to be for another hour at least.
They end up ringing the doorbell half an hour early, and in the time it takes someone to answer the door, his mom has tugged down the hood of his parka and told him not to be rude.
"It's not rude, I like it up," he complains and tugs it back over his face, pulling the drawstrings tight just as Mrs. Stotch opens the door.
"Oh, hello Kenny," she says with that false cheeriness in her voice. "You're a little early."
Kenny doesn't feel like being polite, so he pushes right by her without so much as a 'hello' and tromps up to Butters' room. He can hear his mom making apologies from here, and knows Mrs. Stotch will probably talk with her for a few minutes like she does sometimes after church on Sundays.
Except now he can't escape with Stan and go play video games at Kyle's house.
Now he has to talk to Butters, which normally he wouldn't mind if he hadn't already planned on spending his night with his comics. He has two tucked into his jacket, but those won't hold him through the night.
He doesn't knock, just barges into Butters' room in the middle of the poor kid getting dressed. Butters comes very close to squeaking at being caught, but Kenny shrugs it off and flops down onto Butters' impeccably made bed.
"Ke-Kenny, what the heck are you doin'?" Butters stammers and pulls his pajama bottoms close. "I'm indecent."
Kenny barks a laugh at that, muffled by the thick layer of jacket over his mouth, and replies, "You couldn't be indecent if you tried." He glances over and grins when Butters frowns at this, and rolls his eyes when Butters won't budge.
"Dude, it's different when you have a brother," he explains then. "No one cares if you're naked or not. Kevin walks around naked in the morning just to be an asshole."
Butters wrinkles his nose and grudgingly pulls his green corduroys up over his hips. He tries to button them, but they won't cooperate. They do look a little snug, and are definitely too short in the ankle, but the fact that they don't fit causes Butters an incredible amount of stress.
"Stupid fat," he mutters, and then stomps his foot when the button still refuses to join and lets out a whine.
"Dude, calm down," Kenny raises an eyebrow.
"I'm too fat for my pants," Butters whines, and Kenny stands up to survey the situation.
He concludes, "You're too big for your pants, but that's not the same as being too fat for them, dude." He pinches the skin on Butters' stomach and grins when Butters slaps him away, "See? Not fat. You want fat, look at Cartman. That's fat."
Butters' cheeks turn pink, and Kenny suddenly finds himself wondering if all those rumors people scratch into the bathroom stalls are true. Maybe Butters is a fag.
Or queer, or whatever.
He shakes his head and stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Just put on your pjs, dude," he says. "We're gonna eat a fuckton of pizza anyway, right? Might as well leave room for the food babies."
Butters averts his eyes, but nods and pulls on a pair of plaid pajama bottoms instead. A few moments of silence pass between them before Butters starts kneading his knuckles together and suggests, "So whaddya wanna do since you're the first one here?"
Kenny shrugs and looks around Butters' room. There's not much to do at the Stotch house—not much that Kenny likes to do, anyway. He doesn't have video games, most of his toys are left over from when they were kids, and all the books on his shelf are actual books, not a picture in sight.
"I don't know," Kenny finally shrugs. "Watch TV or something?"
Butters looks a little hesitant at that and immediately starts kneading his knuckles again. "We-well, my folks don't want me to hog up the TV. I-It's bad for your brain, y'see."
Kenny snorts, but says nothing. He tugs Butters downstairs and plops him in front of the TV. His mom is gone, thank God, and Butters' parents are both in the kitchen, chatting. The moment the TV flicks on, Mrs. Stotch appears in the doorway and issues a warning, "You boys pace yourselves, or your brains will rot right out of your heads."
"W-we will, mom," Butters nods and sinks low into the couch. He moves to grab the remote, but Kenny gets it quicker. He flips through a few channels before Butters takes the remote back and explains, "You just hit 'Guide' a-an' you can see whatever's on."
"Oh, sweet," Kenny marvels and snatches it back. He knows most people have fancy cable like this, but he never ceases to be amazed by it. He spends a good five minutes searching through every nook and cranny of the guide, and turns it on one of the old cartoon channels.
"Aw, this isn't Ren and Stimpy," Kenny frowns. Another moment passes and he cocks his head. Anime girls with big boobs and short skirts? "What is this?"
"Y-you never seen Sailor Moon?" Butters asks, and Kenny shakes his head. "Oh… you'd probably really like it. Though, uh… don't tell the other fellas when they get here? It's kind of a girl show, a-an' I really don't need Eric to have any more ammo."
Kenny scoffs and settles in low to the couch. "Dude, fuck him," he says. "I haven't even watched this for two minutes and I already know it's awesome. I dare anyone to give you shit for watching this."
Butters smiles, relieved at that and scoots a little closer to Kenny. They finish this episode and two more, both so engrossed that they forget that other people are supposed to show up.
Supposed to, but then no one does. It's nearly two hours after the official start of this little party and Kenny and Butters are still the only two people there. Mrs. Stotch looks as though she feared this would happen, but she doesn't address it outright. Instead she says she'll make an oven pizza for them, rather than order out.
"Thanks, mom," Butters smiles and sinks lower into the couch. Kenny can see something behind his eyes that makes his chest hurt and his gut burn with guilt.
"Dude, fuck everyone," he murmurs so only Butters can hear. He thought at least Butters' friend Dougie would show up, but man, this is brutal.
"It's all right," Butters sighs. "I'm sure everyone forgot to tell me they'd be busy."
Kenny's heart has exploded before, and for a moment he thinks it might happen again. Butters seems to catch onto this and offers Kenny a smile. "Don't worry about it," he says, like Kenny is the one who needs reassuring, "this is a real good episode."
They watch Sailor Moon and eat pizza, mostly in silence until Butters' parents disappear upstairs for the night. The moment he hears their door shut upstairs, Kenny lets out a big sigh and flops back into the couch.
"Thank God," he says. "I've been trying not to pop a stiffy for like three hours. This is a fucking kids' show?"
Butters chuckles at that, absently fiddling with an uneaten pizza slice on his paper plate. Kenny wilts a bit—he's not good at a lot, but he's always been good at cheering up Butters.
"The other guys are assholes, dude," Kenny folds his arms over his chest.
Butters rolls his eyes and kicks his feet up on the coffee table. "You don't have to BS me, y'know. I know you wouldn't have come if your mom hadn't dragged you here."
Kenny doesn't bother denying it. He doesn't like lying to Butters, and Butters is too smart to buy into a lie anyway. So instead, Kenny unzips part of his parka and pulls out the two comic books he stowed away before he left.
"You wanna read some Avengers with me?" he asks. Butters glances over at him and looks him up and down before his eyes settle on the comics.
"What's this one about?" he asks and grabs the first comic out of Kenny's hand. Kenny explains everything up until the installment Butters is holding, and smiles as Butters flips through the pages.
"My parents don't like me reading comics," Butters explains and looks over at Kenny. He stops mid-thought and cocks his head. "I can kinda see your face like that," he points out, and doesn't even give himself a chance to breathe before he continues, "How come you always keep your hood up, Kenny?"
Sometimes Kenny wonders if keeping his hood up all the time is worth the amount of people who ask him about it.
"Insulation," Kenny replies simply. "We don't have heat at my house, you gotta bundle up whenever you can."
"But we got heat here," Butters attempts to reason. "A-and you always got that hood up no matter what time of year it is."
"So?" Kenny shrugs, scooting ever so slightly closer to the edge of the couch. "It's just my face, you've seen it before."
"Yeah, but," Butters turns to face Kenny. "If it's just your face then why don't you let people see it?"
"Because I don't want to," Kenny frowns. "Read your comic and shut up."
Butters falters at that, and Kenny can't help but think he just kicked a puppy. He sighs and unzips the rest of his parka, feeling naked already. With a hesitant side glance toward Butters, he reaches up and pushes his hood off of his head.
Even though the heater is on, the air is still cold when it hits Kenny's face. His nose stings a bit as he breathes in and out, and he makes it a point not to look at Butters.
"Wow," Butters breathes.
"What?" Kenny shifts again.
He hears Butters gulp beside him and immediately he feels his blood get hot, not unlike the way it does when he kisses a girl, or cops a feel.
"You, uh," Butters stammers. "Y-you got a nice face."
Kenny looks over at that. Butters' cheeks are bright pink, his pupils are giant; Kenny's seen that look before. It's suddenly much too hot for him and he slips out of his parka. He's in one of Kevin's old shirts, which is too small for Kevin and too big for Kenny, and in a pair of Kevin's old jeans, which follow the same pattern.
Butters doesn't look away, though—he looks much too fascinated for Kenny's tastes.
"What?" Kenny snaps and pushes himself up off the couch.
"Nothing!" Butters clams up quickly. "I just… I never get to see you without your jacket on is all."
"So?" Kenny balls up the sleeves of his undershirt in his hands and crosses his skinny arms over his chest. He feels like he's in a fishbowl.
"Nothing," Butters repeats and sits up, still looking at Kenny. "I just—you got to see me in my unmentionables earlier. And weren't you talkin' about how bein' naked isn't a big deal in your house?"
"Well, not for Kevin," Kenny braces his hands on his bony hips. "Apparently once you go through puberty, your dick gets so big that you want everyone to see it."
Butters pulls a face and shakes his head. "No way," is all he says.
"I swear!" Kenny exclaims. "It's like one of those little capsules you leave in water overnight and then you wake up and it's a giant fucking sea monster or something."
Butters blinks his big eyes at him a few times before he dissolves into fits of hysterical laughter. It's the contagious kind too, because suddenly Kenny finds himself laughing right along with him.
And then Butters is on his feet, uncrossing Kenny's arms and holding them out to the side. Kenny fights the urge to ball up like a hedgehog and roll away, though he does remember that he poked the pudge on Butters' stomach earlier. Of course this would be his punishment.
"Stand up straight," Butters says then. Kenny has absolutely no idea why he obeys. "Gosh, you're tall."
Kenny slumps again. He's really starting to stretch out, he knows, while Butters doesn't appear to have grown at all. Or, maybe he has. Kenny can't really boast paying attention to those kinds of things.
"Gosh," Butters reaches up and scrunches Kenny's hair in his hands. "I wish I could grow out my hair like that. My folks would kill me."
Butters is so close that Kenny can smell him-it's making his head spin and now he can't think up a response. Butters is nice and warm, and his soap smells good—not like the cheap stuff he has to use, and not like the stuff he always smells on girls that makes him lose his breath. Whatever it is, it makes his fingers twitch and the hair on his arms stand up.
His body takes over from there, leaving his brain far behind as he cups Butters' face in his hands and pulls him into a kiss. Butters makes this little noise as Kenny's lips close over his, and for the brief moment they stay connected neither boy remembers to shut his eyes.
When he pulls back, a familiar squirrely feeling bubbles up in Kenny's stomach. It occurs to him that yes, he just kissed a boy, but that doesn't freak him out as much as he thought it might. Maybe because Butters is softer and prettier than a lot of boys he knows, but he's still just that: a boy.
"Um," Kenny takes a step back. "Sorry."
Butters looks like he's between crying and jumping out of his skin with joy. He looks down at his hands and picks a giant chunk of his fingernail off. "Ke-Kenny," he begins. "You know how sometimes you'll do stuff to make me feel better when you know I'm sad?"
Kenny nods, "Yeah."
"Was that—did you kiss me 'cause you thought it'd make me feel better?" Butters asks, and Kenny thinks he actually might cry if he gets the wrong answer. Kenny takes a deep breath and shifts.
"No," he answers, and Butters looks up at him, calculating.
"Then why?" he presses.
Kenny shrugs, "Because I wanted to, I guess." When Butters doesn't respond, Kenny fumbles through, " I don't know, dude. You smell good. And I wanted to kiss you."
Butters still doesn't say anything, so Kenny lets it slip, "And I guess you're cute."
Butters' eyebrows fly up on his forehead. "You guess?" he asks. "Kenny, I got it on pretty good authority that I'm adorable."
Kenny pauses for a moment, and then he finds himself laughing again. Hard. So hard, in fact, that he ends up on the floor, clutching his sides through his baggy t-shirt. Butters laughs too, though not so much that he loses his composure, and when Kenny's finally calmed down he helps him up again.
"You're funny, dude," Kenny sighs and wipes under his eyes. Butters shifts under the flattery and gives Kenny a smile.
"You wanna read your comics up in my room?" he offers. "Probably better than down here anyway. A-and if you're cold, you could always use one of my blankets, or read in my bed. My bed is real warm."
That makes Kenny's chest feel all fuzzy. He lets Butters pull him and the comics up to his room, where they settle into the big quilt on Butters' bed, propping themselves up with pillows and (Kenny swears not to tell) Butters' stuffed teddy bear.
They settle, and after about a minute of pretending to read, Kenny realizes that they're close enough to kiss again. So, Kenny leans over and presses a kiss to his cheek. Butters grins big and hides his face in the crook of his elbow, so Kenny does it again. And again. And again, until he rolls them both over and pins Butters to the bed.
He slips his tongue past Butters' lips, licking softly at the roof of his mouth. Butters moans quietly, but pulls back after a few moments.
"Ke-Kenny," he breathes. "Um, can we not—I mean, can we just kiss?"
Kenny lets out another laugh and nods, "Yeah, dude. I like just kissing you." He doesn't know that he's mentally prepared to do anything beyond that without any boobs involved.
Butters breaks out into a face-splitting smile. "Really?"
"Yeah," Kenny swipes his thumb over Butters' cheek. "Y'know, whoever's telling you that you're adorable is dead-on."
Butters giggles and pulls him back down into another kiss. Maybe it's just because he's never kissed another boy before, but kissing Butters is really great and exciting. He lays out flat on top of Butters and threads his fingers through his fine blonde hair.
When they wear themselves out on that, Kenny rolls off of him. Only instead of making a grab for his comic books, he settles in close to Butters so he can smell the soap and sweat on his skin. Butters kicks the blankets off of them and loops his arm over Kenny's shoulder. When Butters' fingers tangle in his hair and start playing with the strands, Kenny practically melts into the touch.
"Kenny?" Butters asks after a few moments, and Kenny hums in response. "Thanks," Butters yawns.
Kenny shifts and looks up at Butters. "For what?"
"I don't know," Butters shrugs. "Coming to my sleepover. Not running away after you kissed me. Uh… doin' whatever this is. We probably shouldn't fall asleep like this, though."
Kenny grunts and nods. "Good idea." He pushes himself up out of Butters' warmth and stretches.
"Hey," Butters rubs his eyes. "You wanna watch some more TV? And maybe eat some more pizza? Or I could make pancakes."
Kenny opens his eyes and raises a brow at Butters. "Are you trying to fatten me up?" he asks as Butters stands. Butters folds his arms and shrugs back.
"You objecting?"
Kenny blinks and scratches his head. "Definitely not," he concludes, and follows Butters back downstairs where they watch M*A*S*H and eat until neither of them can move. Kenny's pretty sure he falls asleep the moment his head hits Butters' shoulder, and knows that he'll have to move at some point before morning.
But for now, both he and Butters let themselves enjoy this.
MargaretDelancy wanted fluff. And she gets what she wants.
I MAY expand this later, and if I do I'll change the rating. Just FYI.