In Sickness and In Health
A/N: I do believe I haven't thanked any of my reviewers yet! Terribly sorry. So now, thank you to: , Dani Dreadful, Bambi4ever, RemmyBlack, amzzz123, CaffinatedAddict, RisaShootingStar, SiremusStyle and phantom theif C.A.T for reviewing! They make me very very happy =)
Uh, let's see...
Warnings: Swearing.
Disclaimer: I do not, unfortunately, own South Park. Then again, if I did, it wouldn't be the South Park we all know and love. In fact, I could well have turned it into an anime, or that sort of style. All good in fan-art, but... don't we all prefer our little construction-paper boys? Yes, we do, and if you don't, you're fucking crazy. So, enjoy this story, and thanks to Trey and Matt for being geniuses and making the wonderful show we are all inspired by (and which gives at least a little joy to my life)!
Chapter 3: Long Day
A knock on the door the next day woke Damien. It was fifteen minutes to school – but for now, answering the door was the most important thing.
Still yawning and considerably pissed that he'd been woken up, the Antichrist walked to the front door, still dressed in only the loose black pyjama bottoms.
"Well, what were YOU up to last night then, eh Damien?" the familiar cheeky voice of Kenny McCormick greeted him, along with the gust of freezing cold wind. Damien stopped rubbing his eyes and glared daggers at the rugged blonde, wrapped up in the slightly-scorched hoodie from the previous day. Next to him was Butters, and the small blonde elbowed his boyfriend while still looking at Damien in a way that bordered on a glare.
"Fucking sleeping, 'til you showed up." The demon boy growled. "What do you want?"
"Well..." Kenny pulled Butters past Damien and into the hallway, leaving Damien to shut the door. He continued when they reached the living room, sitting opposite to the sofa which still had Damien's covers on it. "We worked out how to look after Pip. A rota, so to speak. Today, Friday, Butters will look after Pip, while me, you and Tweek go to school. You take over at 4 every day. Weekend, both Butters and Tweek will be here on and off, then back to the rota for Monday – Tweek, Butters, Tweek, Butters and etcetera."
"Okay." Damien nodded. "I'll go upstairs to get changed – and I'll check on Pip while I'm up there."
Damien stood and, taking his bag with him, ascended the stairs. After changing into black skinnies, converses and a t-shirt with a bleeding pentagram motif on, he walked into Pip's room.
The ill blonde was curled up, covers and blankets wrapped tight around him, pillows that had been used to prop him up during the previous day scattered and bordering him on all sides. He looked quite content – warm, comfortable, happy. Despite himself, Damien allowed himself one moment of weakness – he reached out a warm hand to cup Pip's face, gently brushing the golden blonde hair out of his angelic face. The noirette almost grimaced at his own choice of words, but it was true – Pip was extremely angelic. Maybe it was that innocence that held some of his fascination with the Brit. How someone so fragile could stand so strong, someone so badly treated could treat those who tormented him so kindly.
He was broken from his thoughts when Pip murmured, and nudged ever-so-slightly into the hand on his cheek. His lips twitched into a small smile, and he settled again, drawing the duvet up to his nose. Damien himself almost smiled, but caught himself and walked away. He closed the door behind him and, with his acute hearing, barely caught a soft whisper from the sleeping boy.
"Dami..."
=X=
"He's still asleep." Damien reported. Butters, who had a small mug of tea, nodded and continued to sip the hot drink. Kenny grinned, and stood up. He bent down to peck Butters on the cheek, and whispered a goodbye which caused the platinum-blonde to squeak and bat his boyfriend's arm playfully. Kenny's grin simply got wider, and he and Damien left out the front door on their way to school.
Butters smiled after his boyfriend; Kenny's upbeat attitude always brought a smile to his face. Looking around, he decided to tidy up a bit – Damien's duvet was still hung on the sofa. It took the small blonde about ten minutes to fold it up, and tidy around. He was about to sit down, when he heard a thud from upstairs. Instantly worried, he ran up the stairs to Pip's bedroom.
When he opened the door, he saw Pip fallen over on the floor.
"Are you okay Pip?" he asked.
The Brit looked up at him from the floor, and gave a short laugh.
"Yes Butters. My legs gave way. A day without standing will do that to you." Pip smiled, using the bed to hoist himself back up and sit on the edge. He rubbed his knees, but still smiled up at Butters. Butters couldn't help but smile back.
"Okay. Do you want anything?"
"If you leave me for a moment, so I can change, I'll come downstairs. I'd like to stretch my legs a bit, change the scenery." Pip laughed, and deteriorated into coughing, reminding Butters that he wasn't quite as well as he pretended.
"I'll get your antibiotics ready then, and some breakfast. Crumpets and tea okay?"
"Perfect." Pip managed, gasping slightly but smiling all the same. Butters smiled, nodded, and left the room.
Pip waited for a minute before he dropped his smile. He slowed his breathing, and rubbed his knees again, wincing. He briefly patted over himself, making sure he hadn't done any damage, before he rose slowly and, after assuring his balance, staggering over to his dresser.
=X=
"Is the tea ready?" Pip smiled as he leant against his kitchen archway. Butters turned from the kettle, and smiled good-naturedly.
"Almost." Butters nodded, and swooped over to the toaster at the precise moment the crumpets popped out, and swiftly buttered them and set them on the table.
"You're extremely good around the kitchen Butters." Pip complimented, quickly swallowing his medication with a grimace before sitting down on one of the chairs. Butters joined him within a few seconds, cups of tea in hand.
"I have to be. I'm expected to be able to make my own meals, especially if I'm planning on not being with the family at mealtimes. Also, if my parents have guests I often have to cook for them." Butters smiled. "I'm the family chef. I do baking too – sometimes I do fundraisers by selling my cakes and cookies and brownies, or I give them to family and friends, or keep them for treats. I usually have to give a certain amount to my parents as well; they pay for the ingredients so I give them some of the product."
"I didn't think anyone else liked cooking!" Pip smiled. "Obviously I have to make my own meals, but the occasional bit of British-recipe shortcake is lovely. Homemade cooking is always the best."
"We should cook together sometimes – share tips and recipes." Butters laughed, and Pip agreed enthusiastically.
The two boys sat and talked for a long time; long after the crumpets had gone, and a considerable amount of tea had been consumed. Pip genuinely enjoyed Butters' company, and talking of various insignificant topics, simply relishing the good company they kept. Butters was a naturally good-spirited and happy person, as was Pip; they shared interests and experiences and that was what made them such good friends – their ability to understand and empathise with each other.
"Did you sleep well last night then?" Butters chirped. Pip went slightly pink.
"Yes. You?" Butters also went slightly pink, and the two blonde laughed together.
"I'm just... God, so confused." Pip confessed, looking up at Butters.
"Gee, why?" Butters tilted his head to one side – a habit they both shared that made them both look like inquisitive puppies.
"Damien." Pip sighed.
"Why is Damien confusing you?"
"He was my first friend; you know, back before we ever talked. He was my first, only, best friend. I know he was only here for a day but... I just really attached to him. He treated me the best I'd ever been treated before; and he wasn't even that nice back then. And then when he set me on fire, and left... it really hurt. I did some stupid things from loneliness. And even when you guys became my friends, I still missed him."
Butters nodded, showing he was still listening.
"But I still feel hurt. I don't feel like I can just forgive him, without... an expression of apology, or something else. I want to know he actually wants to be my friend." Pip sighed, and smiled up at Butters; it wasn't a happy smile, instead rather sad. "Which means I'm going to be waiting a long time."
Butters sighed too.
"You know what Pip?" Pip looked up. "My first thoughts are that you are too good for him; that he is not a nice enough person for you. That he'll be bad for you. But honestly; if he means that much to you, as a friend, you just need to get to know him again." Butters patted his shoulder. "Just be friends; then see where it takes you. Anything could happen."
"Thanks Butters." Pip smiled, briefly hugging his friend. "I knew you could help."
"Glad to, Pip." Butters grinned.
The two boys finally got up and out of the kitchen. Pip briefly checked the cupboards.
"Oh bother. I'm almost out of sugar and bread – I need more waffles and crumpets too. I'm going to have to go to the shop..."
"You can't, you are in no fit state to go outside into the snow." Butters reprimanded.
"But..."
"I'll go." Butters said, looking sternly up at Pip. Although the other blonde was about an inch taller than him, his tone of voice seemed to convince Pip to back down. The Brit nodded, and retreated to the couch. Butters smiled at him, and patted his shoulder. Pip smiled weakly back, and leant heavily against the arm of the settee, breathing slightly hard.
"Rest a bit Pip. Too much moving isn't too good for your chest at the moment. You are quite badly ill. Relax, and laze around."
"But then I feel useless and lazy."
"You work too hard." Butters wagged his finger in a slightly joking matter. "Take this chance to get some well earned time off. No worries, no work..."
"No pressure." Pip added. Butters and Pip both giggled at what they both knew would be their other friend's input.
"Exactly. Rest." Butters emphasized, grabbing the keys before walking out the door.
=X=
When Butters returned, Pip was dozing lightly on the sofa, in front of the TV which was playing some gardening programme quietly. Butters smiled and after setting down the shopping in the kitchen ran upstairs to grab a thin blue blanket, and tucked it around the sleeping boy.
It was 11:30, so Butters spent a while packing the food away; he could see Pip liked things neat, and although he doubted that Pip was a complete neat freak that would ground and smack him for not putting things away properly, for now there was time to make everything immaculate. He did the washing up, and more general cleaning. Pip's house was extremely neat, so there wasn't much major cleaning to do. After just half an hour, Butters decided to have some lunch.
Pip was still asleep; the Brit was obviously, and understandably, exhausted. Despite how well he pretended to be, it was quite obvious he was ill. He had bags under his eyes, and seemed too thin, borderline anorexic even. His normally beautifully pale skin was almost white and his bright hazel eyes always seemed dark and worried, and through his smile there was always sadness in them.
Butters could tell Pip had some problems, but refused help. He wasn't proud, or arrogant; he simply hated to trouble people, and wanted desperately to prove he could handle himself.
Butters jumped as his phone rang, and hurriedly answered it and rushed up to one of the spare bedrooms.
"Hello?"
"Hey Buttercup." A familiar voice purred from the other end.
"Hiya Ken."
"How're you? How's Pip?"
"I'm okay. Pip's sleeping – poor guy looks exhausted. How are you?"
"I'm good babe. Listen, Tweek and Craig are coming over after school, but me and Damien need to discuss some stuff. I'll come over to collect you at around 5. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, that'll be fine."
"Kenny!" Butters heard Damien's voice, dimmed by distance from the phone's microphone "What's next lesson?"
"Religious." He heard his boyfriend reply. He could just imagine the grin on his face.
"Oh. Well then, I'll meet you behind the school when you're finished."
"Kenny, I though you weren't going to skip classes!" Butters scolded.
"Yeah, but it's religious. It'll be fine, for this lesson."
"Okay. But you'll attend the next one, y'hear?"
"Sure. Tell Pip Damien sends his love, and hopes he gets better soon."
"MCCORMICK!"
"Okay okay. See ya later Buttercup." Kenny laughed.
"Bye bye Ken." Butters heard Kenny laughing before the call ended, and couldn't help chuckling. Damien and Kenny seemed good friends, and the blonde knew his cheeky boyfriend loved to wind up the Antichrist. He shook his head, and walked downstairs again.
=X=
Kenny leant up against the wall behind the school, and grinned at Damien, who was slightly red from anger.
"Hey dude, light this twig on fire." Kenny held up a stick, pointing it at the noirette.
"Why the fuck would I do that?" Damien asked, also slumping against the wall.
"Cause you can, dude."
Damien rolled his eyes, but the end of the stick lit all the same, and Kenny started examining it.
"Is this like, magic fire or summin? Special Hell-fire?"
"No, it's regular fire. But I can control any and all fire, if I really wanted." The Antichrist stared at the flame at the tip, and it lifted off the stick and he made it dance around their heads, before setting it back on the twig while Kenny stared in awe.
"Dude! Sweet!" Kenny laughed. "Can you levitate things?"
"Could if I wanted to. Dad needs to teach me how, but I don't feel like learning at the moment."
"Would it be hard?"
"Might take a lot of concentration at first."
"Any limits?"
"Not really, as far as I know. I could levitate myself, you, a 5-ton truck... anything, I think. Like I said, I haven't learnt yet, so I wouldn't know. I'd guess I couldn't touch anything holy – anything inside a church or extremely holy I probably won't have any effect on."
"So what, do you have like a Hell school?" Kenny was asking questions at random, passing time until he could find the perfect moment to bring up Pip. As much as he loved winding the Antichrist up, he did know it was a rather touchy subject and that Damien was actually having a hard time with it. As a friend, he had to be there to help him, not aggravate him.
"My Dad tutors me on some things. Sometimes it's the head demon, or my Uncle Lucifer. I have to learn how to run Hell, should I ever need to inherit the crown which I could well do at some point. I need to learn how to use and control my powers, and how best to use them." Damien shrugged.
"Is it like magic?"
"I guess that's your term for it. To us, it's simply my powers."
"What else could you learn to do?"
"I'm learning to possess people, control them, manipulate them, read minds and basic, one-sided telepathy."
"Wow." Kenny stared at Damien. "You're like Harry Potter or something."
"It's part of being the antichrist. Telepathy is also useful for receiving orders or messages from Dad, and implanting thoughts and doubts."
"Could you read my mind, right now?"
"If I concentrated. Eventually it'll be easy, and I'll be able to do that and concentrate on something else at the same time. I could walk through your mind, or that basic sort of concept, and find what I wanted to know." Damien shrugged, eyeing Kenny suspiciously.
"Awesome. Can you time travel?"
"I'm not Doctor Who."
"Who?"
"You're American, you wouldn't know." Damien smirked slightly. "But no."
Kenny looked confused, and Damien made a gesture to tell him it didn't matter. Kenny nodded, and the boys lapsed into silence. Damien stared at Kenny intently, to the point the blonde started to get uncomfortable.
"Uh..."
"I'm not gonna talk about Pip, if that's where you're trying to lead the conversation."
Just as Kenny was about to say something, Christophe appeared around the corner, and the accident-prone boy caught himself.
"Bonjour. I see you 'ad ze right idea before class started." The French boy greeted, sitting down beside Damien, so the noirette was between both of the other boys.
"Why did you bother going?"
"I was dragged. Zen ze teacher set off about God and I just left." Christophe shrugged.
"Oh Christianity is our topic this half-term, huh?" Kenny chuckled. "I think next lesson she'll probably start trying to scare us into being good with all sorts of Hell stuff. Then we'll go as witnesses and protest unfairness."
"Sure." Damien nodded.
"D'ya reckon any of the teachers remember about you being the Antichrist?"
"No idea. But I should probably remain inconspicuous."
"Look inco-what now?"
"Unnoticed."Christophe explained. "Does either of you 'ave a lighter? My mozer confiscated mine when she took my cigarettes."
"The Mole, brilliant mercenary and most feared boy in South Park High with the possible exception of Damien, having his lighter and cigarettes confiscated by his mother?" Kenny laughed.
"Eet was let 'er do zat, or keel 'er, or 'ave a lecture about somezing religious. She makes everyzing religious." Christophe grimaced.
"Why do you need a lighter if you have no cigarettes?"
"I bought some, zen I stole some ozers." The brunette took out a cigarette, and looked around. "So?"
Damien held out his hand, and a flame light in his palm. Christophe lit his cigarette gratefully and put it to his lips.
"So..."
"Yeah, the question is 'so'. Like, 'so how do we spend this next hour?'" Kenny said. Damien shrugged, and Christophe just sat and smoked silently. Kenny sighed, and slumped further down the wall.
It was going to be a long day.
=X=
Words: 2,950
A/N: GAH! I'm soo sorry for not updating. It's kinda a filler chapter, just to pass the day. Don't worry, I have a plot, and I am planning something big to happen soon. Next chapter or the chapter after that, I think, at the latest. I don't want the story to drag too much.
I'm sorry this chapter sucked, I just thought you guys deserved an update. This is also kinda important for Pip and Damien's relationship build. But the ending sucked, because I added conversation, and I didn't want the dialogue to be too long and pointless, and I couldn't think how to write the rest of the day,and I went away on holiday to Whitby between writing, and my inspiration went poof. I'm sorry.
Well, I shall see you next chapter (oh, and all you non-Brits who may-or-may-not be wondering about that obscure Doctor Who reference I made, search it. It's a brilliant program. And if you're wondering, I always make Damien have English origins, because in the first 'Omen' film, he and his parents live in London. So he knows about British programs. Meh, my story, so suck it XD)
Goodbye
Jem
P.S: I just added 'meh' to my Word dictionary, because 'meh' IS a word to me XD
Also: I'm super happy because I now own the first three Omen books *happy dance* Okay, I'll shut up now. Bye.