A Boy and His Imp
¦ thank you for the reviews! and thank you for pointing out that the format was all italicized, it wasn't suppose to be, but fanfiction changed it to be that way. it's all fixed though and I updated the chapter so it's no longer italicized! ¦
The moonlight that trickled in through the gaps of the blinds soon turned into the sunlight as the night passed through, Craig had practically gotten used to waking up early even if it were a weekend. He found himself hating this habit more and more because he could never fall back asleep, but it would be a good time to plan a way on how to get out of hanging out with the guys for today. Craig is interested in seeing Tweek again, he's interested in seeing how this will all play out before him, and he's interested in seeing how long this summoning thing would last. With a moment of thinking he had the idea of playing sick to get the other boys to go home early, when they actually do wake up though is a mystery.
He decides to close his eyes and fake a sleep, or rather he'd let himself get consumed in the quiet mind of his thoughts. It had not been until an hour later that the others had began to wake up, with ruffled hair and tired eyes. Craig had made sure to wrap up in his blankets as much as he could to make it seem as if he were having chills, Jimmy is the first to notice this as he grabs his crutches and lifts himself up off the floor.
" Y – Y – You okay, Craig ? " he was slightly concerned and it caught the others attention as they sat up in their sleeping bags where they waited for a response. Craig tried his best to make his voice sound more scratchy.
" I got sick from last night and I don't think I can hang with you guys today, " he forced his voice to purposefully crack to add onto the whole act and slipped a hand out of the blankets to shoo them away. The boys weren't buying it though and Clyde leans in close to Craig's face where he would poke at his cheek, if there was one thing Clyde enjoyed doing it was pushing Craig's buttons. He kept a cool expression, eyes half lidded as Clyde continued to poke him for a good few seconds.
Eventually Craig just slapped his hand away and sat up, his hair jetting out in different directions underneath his hat, which he rarely took off.
" Dude, is there something you're hiding from us ? Wait. Is it what I think it is ? " Clyde taunts while shooting the others a look and they immediately knew what Clyde was hinting at. Token and Jimmy joined in on the poking and prodding with wide grins.
" Is it a girl ? " Token asks, arms folded because he felt like he had hit the hammer right on the nail.
" No, " Craig says without much feeling, hoping that the others would stop before he would lose the rest of the patience that he had for today.
" Oh, playing for the other t – t – t – team then, huh ? " Jimmy chimes in, and it took him a second to figure out what he had meant by that. He furrowed his brows and glared at all the boys in the room, he's trying to keep his face from burning up. He couldn't even figure out why that made him so embarrassed, he always liked girls so why would this start to get him so heated up now ?
" That's not it, just leave before I kick all of your asses, " his voice is low and serious, and the others got the message then and gathered their things. Token called for his mom to come and pick him up while Jimmy and Clyde decided to go back to his house for the rest of the day. Just before they could leave Clyde had went up to Craig to say one more thing.
" You know, if there's something going on then you can tell us, right ? We've always got your back, " he says, he had always been concerned for his friends and especially Craig because Craig was like his BEST friend. Clyde found it strange that Craig had them leave so abruptly today, but Craig only nods and waves a goodbye towards him as they headed out the front door. He made sure they left completely before rushing back upstairs and into his bedroom.
His hands scrambled for the book that Clyde had luckily left behind and grabs the marker from his dresser once more, the pentagram had vanished along with Tweek last night so he'd have to draw a new one. This time he draws it near his bed and on the empty canvas of his wall, he has to keep his hands steady because he was rushing to bring the imp back here. Craig isn't sure if he necessarily liked the feelings that were bubbling up inside of him while he was doing this, but he carried on anyways. His fingers flip through the rough pages of the book and he recites the words with perfect precision until the pentagram started to glow brightly.
Craig watched as the blonde appeared like he said he would last night. Though he looked confused as he slipped through the magical portal of the pentagram, his hooves fall to the floor with a soft click and he clutches his pitchfork nervously.
" Did you need something ? " Tweek asks while tilting his head slightly, he glanced around to see if something was happening and when he found nothing, he simply narrowed his eyes towards the black haired boy.
Craig shrugs, " Not really, I just wanted to talk to you. Is it bad to want company or does every demon down in Hell live alone ? "
" N – No ! It's nothing like that at all, but I told you to summon me when you actually needed help ! Grr, " the imp growls, becoming seemingly frustrated with Craig at this point. He runs his hands through his unkempt hair and shakes his head, he felt anxious just standing there. When a hand fell on the top of his head he tensed up and turned his gaze upwards to look at Craig who was barely smiling. He gave his head a pat and a ruffle before pulling it away and the pit of anxiety he felt in his gut had faded.
" Nothing's going to get you, Tweek, " he reassures gently and Tweek lets out the air that he had been holding in his lungs for far too long.
" I haven't been up here much before and I've only heard stories from other demons who traveled here, every time I had been summoned by someone I was so afraid that they stopped calling for me .., " his voice gets quiet and his gaze has turned to the floor, both hands now clenched onto the shaft of the pitchfork. He continues, " So when you summoned me, I was surprised. And I don't want to let a – anyone down even if they don't need help. That probably doesn't make much sense, but no one ever puts their trust in me. "
" I'm putting my trust in you. Last night I put my trust in you to show up again and you did. Tweek, you won't let me down, " his words were straightforward and blunt, but Tweek didn't mind it. At least he didn't have to sit and think about what they had meant. He felt a surge of confidence in him that he normally never felt, his posture even looked more confident now because before it looked like he was crumpling himself into a ball of anxiety. A fanged smile is flashed, but only for a second.
" Thanks, Craig, " for once in his life, Tweek felt like he could do what he was made to do. His tail flickered a bit to express his gratitude. He'd only just met Craig last night, but it already feels like they've known each other for years.
" No problem - " his sentence is cut off when his mom came knocking at his door, Tweek's eyes widened and he scrambled around for a place to hide. In the heat of the moment he took refuge in Craig's closet while Craig used a poster to cover up the pentagram before sitting on the bed.
" Come in, " he shouts towards the door as it had finally opened up, a beautiful blonde haired woman walked in and Tweek peeked through the small crack of the closet door. His heart was pounding in his ears. His mother was holding a basket of freshly folded laundry that she handed over to Craig, but her expression showed some concern. This made Tweek shake, had she seen him somehow ?
" I heard you talking, sweetie, but I thought all of your friends had gone home. Were you up here talking to yourself ? " she asks, as if her son was suddenly delusional. She wouldn't lie if she said she hadn't heard a second voice while she had passed by the door earlier. Craig just holds up his phone, " I was on the phone with a friend and I had it on speaker. "
Tweek let out a sigh of relief, what a good save on Craig's part. His mother simply leaned down and brushed his bangs from his forehead where she left a kiss and went back to doing whatever she was doing, she shut the door as she left. Craig side glanced at the closet to let Tweek know that the cost was clear, but Tweek almost tumbled out when he nearly tripped over his own two hooves. His hair was on end as he began to mumble something about almost being caught, " Jesus, that was close ! You're lucky she didn't come to the closet. "
" Hey, you didn't get caught, right ? That's all that matters, " he shrugs it off like nothing had even happened and stands up from his bed and he set the basket down. Tweek turns back to the closet and scrunches up his nose.
" I could have suffocated in there. You have so much stuff I could barely even fit, " he leans his pitchfork against the wall while inspecting the things inside of his closet. Tweek was small for an imp and for a person in general, but even then he barely managed to squeeze in with the amount of things that Craig had packed in there. He took note of the many space objects and pieces of clothing he had, he also noticed something called 'Red Racer'. He'd definitely have to ask about that later. What really caught his attention though was a bundle of items that looked to be for a pet of some kind, he crouches down and grabs one of the items. It's a clear ball and he turns to Craig as he cradles it gently.
" Do you have a pet ? " Tweek asks and when he rips his gaze away from the plastic ball, Craig's expression became dark and so did his voice. It cut through his question with ease, " I HAD a pet and I don't want anyone touching Stripe # 3's stuff, it's sacred. "
He snagged the ball away from Tweek and moved past him where he had set the ball back next to the items. He shut the closet tightly and made way for the basket so he could put his clothes away, it was dangerously silent and Tweek felt uncomfortable. He hadn't known and he couldn't help but feel bad for what he had done. Accident or not, he felt that he should apologize.
" Craig, I'm sorry. I had no idea, but if you .. if you want to talk about it then .., " he got quiet again, his free hand latched onto his other arm and he crumpled himself up.
" I think Stripe # 3 passed away because my dad caught him pooping in the dining room, Stripe # 1 died when my mom accidentally stepped on him and broke his back, Stripe # 2 ran away. Stripe # 3 recently passed, but I'm not going to grieve over it forever because that's not what Stripe would have wanted, " he explains, as he was still putting away the folded clothes. Tweek isn't sure how he should react, but he felt a pang in his chest.
" Wherever they are, they are all together and I know they are in guinea pig heaven and they are looking down on you, " Tweek attempts to comfort him with words and Craig turns to him with a soft smile and nods, at that moment Tweek felt his heart burst. He couldn't pinpoint why this made him happy, but he liked it better when Craig smiled. As he put away the last of his clothes, that had him thinking about a disguise for Tweek to wear just in case if his mom or someone else came in without knocking. Especially his little sister, Tricia. She never learned how to knock on a door first.
" Don't you have the ability to hide yourself somehow ? " he asks as he opens another drawer, this one had old clothes that either never fit him properly or he didn't really like wearing. He came across a green button up shirt that couldn't fit him and he didn't think he looked good in the color anyways, it could match perfectly with Tweek's eye color though. He was beginning to wonder how Tweek wasn't freezing at this point since he wore nothing and all he had was his fur and skin.
" I – I can change myself to look like a human, but it takes a lot of energy and it can be hard to hold the form under pressure, " his voice is shaky, he's tried to change forms so many times before and it never worked. He isn't sure if he could trust himself with that kind of disguise. Craig pulls out a pair of jeans that were too small for him and a fresh pair of underpants that he had recently bought, he walks over to Tweek and hands him the clothes.
" Try to do it, here's some clothes to put on when you do. I know you can do it, Tweek, " he assures him, and just like that Tweek was fired up and ready to try. If Craig believed in him then he felt like he could do anything if he put his mind to it. Craig grabs his own clothes so he could change out of his pajamas and he begins to undress, not really caring if Tweek was there to see him. They were both boys after all, it shouldn't matter. Tweek just stood there and tried to keep his gaze away from Craig's body as he undressed himself, he noticed how thin he was, but not thin enough to consider him weak. He could point out the muscles he had too. When he had been caught staring though, he turned away and felt the bridge of his nose heat up.
" I can't do it if you're watching ! " he blurts out and after getting dressed in his usual apparel, he walked to the corner of his room and turned his back towards him. Tweek looks back to make sure he wasn't peeking, he focused all his energy in his belly and then spread it throughout his body. His fur was no longer there and he didn't have goat legs anymore, his tail had vanished too along with his horns and wings. All that remained was the sharp nails and fangs, but he doesn't think anyone would really pay attention to that. He struggles to get the clothing on, not because they didn't fit, but because he felt like he was making Craig wait too long. Once he was dressed he turned back to Craig who was still facing the wall, " I'm dressed, but I feel kinda stupid .. "
Once Craig turns to him, he tries to stifle a chuckle. Tweek hadn't buttoned up the shirt properly at all, a good portion of his belly was showing because of this. Tweek didn't look amused though, his arms folded and he let out a soft huff, " Do I look that dumb to you ? "
The dark haired boy stopped his stifled laughter and shook his head, " You look fine, Tweek. The clothes look good on you. "
His eyes brighten up a bit and he mutters a thank you before trying to move around, it felt weird being on two human legs rather than two goat ones. It even took him a moment to get the hang of it, but when he did he felt like a natural at it.
" You think anybody will notice ? I hope I don't stand out too much, " he asks.
" Like I said, you look fine. You look like a normal human to me, " Craig reassures him and then gestures towards his door, he wanted to take him outside. He would feel bad if he kept him locked up in his bedroom all the time. He begins to make way for the door, but not before turning to Tweek to see if he was going to follow him, " Let's go outside for a bit, you might like it. "
The disguised imp moves in close, he plans on staying glued to his side because this was going to be one of the most anxious moments in his entire life. Tricia was in her room, his mom was in the kitchen and his dad was out at Skeeter's so slipping past everyone while being unnoticed was easy. When they had reached the front door Craig had already walked out while Tweek remained inside, he could only clasp his hands together and keep them close to his chest as if to shield himself from the terrors of the world.
Craig didn't even speak, he simply held out his hand towards him and Tweek didn't hesitate to grasp it. He was guided outside and onto the front step, he shut the door quietly behind him and suddenly the world around him felt like magic. Tweek didn't mind leaving his life behind down in Hell if he could always be greeted with a pretty sight.