As the day, Saturday now, passes by, Craig mostly lounges around his house until he has to meet up with his friends at the set time at the fair.
By the time he arrives, Jimmy, Token and Clyde are already there. They decide to wait a bit, until Kenny and Tweek make it. Tweek arrives 5 minutes later, but Kenny is still nowhere to be seen and Craig starts to think he may not show, as more minutes go by.
"Let's just meet him inside," Clyde says, heading for the entrance with a turn.
"He might not be able to find us if we go in though," Token tells him.
"No, it's fine," Craig says, "you guys go on ahead, and I'll meet up with you all when he gets here."
Clyde frowns at that, "Come on man, you—"
"Oh!" Tweek exclaims, "I-I think I see him!"
Craig looks to where Tweek's gaze is, and his eyes quickly find Kenny's orange clad figure walking towards them.
"I'm late. Sorry," Kenny says as he reaches them.
"O-oh, that's q-quite al-alright!" Jimmy tells him, "L-let's g-get go-going g-guys."
"Finally," Clyde says and heads for the ticket booth.
"Do you have any money for admission?" Craig asks Kenny, as they walk over to it.
"I..." Kenny trails off.
"It's okay, I got it," Craig tells him. He had a feeling things might turn out like this, so he made sure to have some extra cash on hand just in case.
After everyone pays their admissions, which are bright green wristbands with the words 'South Park Spring Fair' written in bold black letters on them, they head in.
There's quite a large number of people attending the fair Craig notes, as he and his friends make their way through it, trying to pick what to do first and what rides to go on.
"I'm guessing this is your first time at a fair, right?" Craig asks Kenny, as his group of friends rush over to play a booth game.
"Being in one, yes. Seeing one... no." Kenny replies.
"You've seen one before?"
"When I was young. Couldn't go in it, even though I was curious about it, I wasn't allowed."
"Wait, is it okay for you to be here now then?" Craig asks, looking at him.
"It's alright. No one has taken notice of me yet, so I think it's okay."
"That's good," Craig says relieved. He didn't like the idea of Kenny being in some sort of trouble because of him.
"It took me a while to get here though, because of... well, you can probably figure it out."
"Your brother..." Craig trails off.
"Yeah."
"Does that mean he's around?" Craig asks and Kenny nods.
"He knows I'm here. It's not hard for him to figure out," Kenny tells him then glances at him. "But he also knows that I'm here because you're here as well."
"...Did you agree to come because I was going?"
"That's part of it," Kenny replies and a small subtle beat skips in Craig at it. "You did say being close was best," he adds, "and also, I was curious to be able to go to one."
"I see," Craig says and looks back to his friends, who were now busy playing the game at the booth and seeming to be way too competitive for a game involving small water guns in it. "You should give one of these games a go," he suggests and turns to Kenny. "After all, it's your first real experience at a fair."
"What one though?" Kenny asks and looks around.
Craig joins in looking around also, until his eyes find one and he grabs Kenny's wrist, guiding him towards it.
"Here, this one!" They arrive at a booth where a bunch of balloons are set up under an array of prizes. "Give this a go, it's a classic." Craig tells him then notices Kenny's gaze drift down to his wrist. Craig quickly lets go of him when realizing that he's been holding on to it for longer than he should have been. "Sorry," he mumbles.
Kenny's gaze lingers a bit more at his now freed wrist before he asks, "How do I play this?"
"It's very simple young fellow!" the guy behind the stand says, speaking up. "All you have to do is hit 3 balloons with the limited number of darts you get. And you win a prize!"
"What he said," Craig says with a slight head gesture.
Kenny examines the balloons and darts, before he nods and decides to give it a try.
"Excellent!" the man exclaims.
The game is quick, and it happens so fast that neither Craig nor the guy at the booth realize that 3 balloons are popped, until Kenny lowers his arm. Each balloon popped with precise precision.
"Wow, that's quite something!" the man says, then lifts up an arm in a showcase manner. "Seeing as to how you won, pick a prize! Any prize!"
"I don't know what to pick." Kenny says, looking at Craig.
"Anything you want," Craig says, "Just pick whatever catches your eye I guess."
Kenny looks at the prizes, until his gaze lands on a small bag and he points to it.
"This here? Are you sure? You can have anything you want here," the man says and points to the big stuff toys above, but Kenny shakes his head.
"That," he states and the man hands the small plastic bag to him.
"You want to play again?" Craig asks.
"No, once was enough," Kenny replies.
As the two head off to join back up with the group, Craig looks at the small clear plastic bag in Kenny's hand now.
"You sure you wanted that?" Craig asks.
"You said to pick what caught my eye," Kenny replies and opens the small bag to have a small plastic ring land in his palm. The ring's band is orange and has a zigzag design along it and a small colorful jewel resting in the center of it.
"It's a mood ring," Craig tells him, as Kenny examines it.
"Mood... ring?" Kenny repeats.
"Yeah, it's supposed to be able to read whatever mood you're in, and turn a certain color that goes with it," Craig explains, "although honestly, I don't think anyone believes those things truly work."
As they near the group, Kenny puts the ring away in his pocket and goes back to glancing around.
"Hey, where'd you guys go?" Token asks.
"Just to check out some of the other game booths," Craig replies, "did anyone win anything at yours?"
"Tweek did," Token replies, "he got a small top." To which Tweek shows the small plastic toy with a smile.
"I almost won," Clyde mutters, eyeing the toy.
"Let it go man, you would have gotten a plastic toy as well," Token sighs and Clyde lets out a small huff.
The group moves on to try a couple more games, one of which Craig tries but doesn't win at. Kenny however, doesn't try anymore of them and only watches the others play them instead.
They eventually go on some rides, as the lines for them begin to shrink from evening approaching, after which they take a break to get food.
"Do you want anything?" Craig asks Kenny.
"I'm good," he replies.
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you eat anything before," Craig says, "don't you ever get hungry?"
"I do."
"Really? Well, what do you eat?" it was a question that had been on Craig's mind for a while now.
"It's probably better if you don't know," Kenny replies, which only makes Craig more curious about it. But he doesn't press on it, something in Kenny's tone told him that he probably didn't want to know.
As he decides to pass on eating as well and waits for his friends to finish ordering their food, he takes note of a woman in a green suit walking around.
"Huh, didn't think I'd see her here," he thinks aloud nodding in her direction, and Kenny looks. "The mayor," he clarifies. "Although, it is nighttime now, so I guess she's off hours."
"What are you guys looking at?" Clyde asks joining them again, "Oh, it's the mayor," he adds, taking note of where their gazes landed.
Craig and Clyde don't even notice as the others join back up with them until they speak.
"You think she's here on duty?" Token asks.
"Nah, she's off hours," Clyde replies.
"Is she? She seems like she's always doing something," Token says.
"Oh I'm sure she is," Clyde snickers, earning an elbow from Token, "What? It's true?!" he exclaims, "I always hear these rumors that her and a group of others are sometimes spotted walking around in the middle of the night, for no reason."
"So what? You think they're doing satanic orgy rituals or something?" Token asks flatly.
"Hey, I didn't say that," Clyde replies, putting his hands up.
"No, but you were thinking it."
"Ho-honestly, I th-think this t-town has t-to many rumors flying around in i-it," Jimmy says, to which most nod in agreement with.
Their staring gets noticed though, as the mayor looks over at them and they all quickly pretend to look off elsewhere, except for Kenny, whose stare is quite intent. When the mayor starts to walk over to them, an elective smile on her face, Craig tugs Kenny's arm in an attempt to break his staring at her.
"How are things going for you all? I hope you're enjoying yourselves at the annual fair," the mayor says.
"Oh y-yes, of c-course," Jimmy replies with his own smile.
"Good, good. It'd be sad if there were any problems on such a nice night. Especially with the fair this weekend and all," she laughs a bit, "wouldn't want the rain to dampen your moods like it has been doing quite a lot this season."
"Th-that's tr-true," Jimmy says.
"Yeah, we should probably be on our way now then, before it starts to rain or anything magically," Token says.
"Yeah," Clyde agrees and the two start heading off.
"Come on guys," Token says and the group starts to move.
"It-it was nice t-to see you m-mayor!" Jimmy says and the others give a nod, wave or goodbye.
"Don't go too crazy kids! And have a good time!" She shouts out after them, before taking her leave, Kenny's eyes still following her.
"Man, she creeps me out," Token says.
"Same," Clyde agrees.
"Come on g-guys, she's not that b-bad," Jimmy says.
"I wish I could see the good in all like you do Jimmy, I really do," Clyde says, taking a bite out of the candy apple he bought.
"Yeah really," Token agrees.
"She makes me ngh, so uneasy for some reason," Tweek says.
"Same Tweek, same," Clyde agrees.
"Just something about her," Token adds.
Craig knew what they meant, there was something that just seemed so fake about the smile she wore, like it was plastered on and hiding something almost. Although it was Craig's friend group that mostly seemed to feel this way about her, as most others in the town seemed to really like her. Whatever the case was, something about her, just seemed strange.
The group decides to go on one last ride before heading home. Which ends up being the ferris wheel. The reason for it being that, Craig's friends didn't want to be swung around a lot and risk getting sick after just eating.
The seats only fit two at a time, so they split into pairs and get on. Clyde with Token, Jimmy with Tweek and Craig with Kenny.
Craig sits down next to Kenny, his leg pressing next to his. For the most part the two are quiet as the ride goes, until they get to the top and it comes to a stop to let more people on.
"There's so many lights, and it's so lively here still despite the time," Kenny says.
"Yeah, it's quite the view from up here, huh?" Craig says, looking around.
It falls silent for a few seconds.
"You and your friends seem to get along so well," Kenny eventually says.
"Well, we've known each other for a long time," Craig tells him.
"It must be nice, being able to be close with others."
"I guess so."
"I wonder if I'll ever be that close with you."
"Of course!" Craig exclaims, "I mean, I kind of already thought that we were?"
"Are we? It's hard for me to tell with people's emotions and what they really mean sometimes," Kenny says.
"Well we're much closer than what we were before I'd say. Back when I first talked to you."
"That's true," Kenny says in thought, "But how do you know when you're close to someone?"
"Well there's different kinds of closeness you can feel for someone. Like familiar. Platonic. Romantic. And so on," Craig explains.
"And how do you know which is which?"
"Well, familiar should be easy to tell, as it's usually what you feel about wanting to protect and keep your family near. And platonic is like, you enjoy being around this person a lot and understand them and the things they do… usually," Craig explains.
"And romantic?"
"That…" Craig's face flushes lightly as he tries to think of how to explain it. "It's similar to platonic, but there's more to it. Like the person means a lot to you, so much that seeing them is enough to make you want to smile, even if you're having a bad day. Or they make you feel like you could do anything when you're with them. And you always want to see them, because even if it's just a glimpse of them, it's enough to make your heart race and cause you to want to smile like an idiot, or make you really happy. And when you can't see them, it's like you can't smile anymore and it feels like your chest hurts, like it's in pain, but not a physical one, like something is wrapping around it and won't let go until you can see them again. And sometimes you can get depressed because they're gone as well…" he finishes and suddenly realizes that he probably said way too much, and was hitting a little too close to home.
"I see," Kenny says, "I thought it was primarily sexual attraction and pleasure."
Craig's face flushes more at that response and he turns his head to try and hide it.
"Uh, yeah, that's a part of it too I guess," he says, "it's only natural to want the one who you have such strong feelings for, in such a way."
"I think I understand a bit more now," Kenny says, "thanks," and places a hand on Craig's from the bar across their legs. At it, Craig looks back and to their hands before up at Kenny and glancing away again.
"No problem," he murmurs.
Kenny puts his hand in his pocket and takes out the ring again to examine it, just as the wheel starts to move again.
"You going to wear it?" Craig asks.
"I don't know, I don't feel like there's a point if I should because I always wear gloves," Kenny replies.
"Oh yeah, true. That sucks."
"Mmmm," Kenny hums lightly, "you want it?"
"Huh? But it's your prize."
"I can't wear it though, and it might end up breaking if I do."
"Oh, good point…"
"So?"
"Uh, sure, I'll take it," Craig replies and holds out a hand.
Kenny looks at it for a moment.
"Turn it over," he instructs.
"Huh, but…" Craig trails off confused, but does what he asks and turns his hand palm down.
Kenny grabs his wrist loosely with one hand and uses the other to place the ring onto one of his fingers. Craig's eyes widen at the action and he has to remind himself to breathe from the sudden influx of blood now pumping through his heart.
"Yo-you didn't need to do that you know, I could have put it on myself," Craig tells him and has to harshly wipe away the image of a proposal from his mind and how absurd it is to be having.
"Did I not put it on the right finger?" Kenny asks.
"Huh, right finger?"
"I thought that, that was what finger rings went on, because they were called it."
Craig can't help but let out a small snort of laughter at how innocent that sounded from him.
"Did I say something funny?" Kenny asks, genuinely sounding confused.
"No, no. I just wasn't expecting that to be the reason is all," Craig laughs, with a shake of the head.
"Reason?" Kenny repeats.
"It was cute is all."
The sentence comes out before Craig can think about it and he stops laughing as Kenny looks at him.
"Do you think I'm cute?"
The question causes Craig to look down at the ring on his finger and start to play with it.
"Ah, well, I uh," the words were getting caught in his throat. "I… I guess so," his shoulders lift as he adds, "yeah," he waits a few seconds but Kenny doesn't reply and Craig chances a nervous glance at him. Kenny's gaze is now elsewhere, and seems almost as if he is glaring. "Kenny?" Craig asks concerned, then looks to where his gaze is. He looks through the crowd of people, but doesn't see anything. "Is something wrong?"
"When we get off, stay close to me and your friends," Kenny tells him.
"Why?" Craig asks, the slow feeling of fear creeping in.
Kenny looks at him then.
"It will be okay," he tells him and places a hand on his. But Craig can't help but wonder just what it was that Kenny saw to change his whole demeanor so much.
As they reach the bottom and get off, Craig makes sure to follow Kenny's instructions and stay close to everyone. As they exit the fair area, Craig spots something, a person, standing just in the shadows of the forest edge.
"Is that…" Craig whispers to Kenny.
"Yes," Kenny replies back just as quiet.
"Well, today was fun," Token says.
"Y-yeah," Jimmy agrees.
"Guess we part ways now, got to head home," Clyde says.
Anxiousness starts to grow in Craig, as everyone's goodbyes draw near.
"It's really late guys, I'll see you all later!" Tweek exclaims, before heading off. "It was n-nice to have you along Kenny!" he adds.
"Yeah, it was nice to have you join us," Token says.
"Y-yeah," Jimmy agrees.
"Anyways, see you guys later," Token says, as he heads off.
"Craig, you okay?" Clyde asks, looking at him, "You seem… tense."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Craig replies.
He didn't want anyone to worry or get wrapped up with the real reason why. Clyde's eyes shift between Craig and Kenny then.
"You sure?" he asks.
"Yes," Craig replies, reaffirming his answer and not liking what Clyde was hinting at. Clyde watches him for a few more seconds before turning.
"If you say so," he says as he heads off, "come on Jimmy."
Jimmy looks between Clyde, Craig and Kenny confused before he gives a small smile to them.
"S-see you guys later," he says, then catches up with Clyde.
"He seems… hostile towards me," Kenny says when they're a good enough distance away.
"He… saw the bruise on me before," Craig tells him.
"I see…" Kenny murmurs, before looking to Craig, whose attention was now back on the spot near the forest edge, his features turning to worry and fear.
"Stay close," Kenny says and takes his hand.
As they start walking, Craig's grip can't help but tighten in Kenny's hand from the feeling of knowing that he was being watched by someone who wanted to do him harm.
"You don't think he'll try anything, will he?" he asks.
"I don't know," Kenny replies, "but I don't like that he's so close, especially with so many people nearby."
But Craig knew, as he guessed that Kenny did as well, that they wouldn't be around people for long as they made their way further from the crowds of the fair area, and to more quiet and secluded areas of the empty streets.
"I'm not going to let him hurt you," Kenny says quietly.
Craig knew that he was most likely saying it just to reassure him, but still, he managed to find some comfort in those words despite that. They make it about halfway to Craig's house, and Craig thinks that maybe it will be alright, that maybe he has nothing to worry about and that the onlooker from the shadows would end up doing nothing at all in the end.
That is, until Kenny comes to a full stop, his grip tightening more around Craig's, along with his body tensing.
"I know you're there," Kenny says lowly, "come out."
The snap of a twig is heard along with a bush moving as Kevin walks out from the woods that rested along the side of the sidewalk. He stands some meters away in front of them.
"You're really attached to that human," Kevin says and glances at their hands.
"What do you want?" Kenny asks.
"You know, I've been wondering," Kevin starts, "he seems to be pretty attached to you as well, but I wonder if that would change at all, if he saw the real you."
"Kevin," Kenny growls in warning.
"I'm just saying, does he know what you hide behind that mask? And would he still want to be near you, if he did know?" Kevin asks. Craig looks up at Kenny, not being able to help but stare at the black mask that hid his mouth. "Oh? Doesn't he know? Well if not, I'd be more than happy to show him just how different you truly are from him."
And suddenly Kevin's running at them. Kenny let's go of Craig's hand as he blocks Kevin from reaching a hand to his face.
"Come on Kenny—don't be shy now," Kevin taunts.
"No," Kenny growls and manages to push him back.
Kevin lets out a frustrated sound and quickly glances at Craig. Kenny catches it just in time as Kevin turns his attention to Craig and goes to attack him. Craig just barely misses the attack as Kenny pushes him out of the way and onto the ground. The brief drop in his guard is all Kevin needs in order to quickly place his hand across Kenny's mask in one swift motion and tear it off. Kenny turns his head away before Craig can see it though, and tries to grab the mask back from his brother, but it's torn in half before he can.
"There, now show him Kenny," Kevin says, but Kenny stays facing away. "Come on, show him!" Kevin snarls out, "Show him what you really are!" still though, Kenny doesn't move, "Well then, I guess you don't care what happens to this human."
Kevin then turns to Craig and yanks him up to his feet by the arm, before placing a hand on his throat and lifting him into the air. Craig instinctively grabs at his hand to breathe, trying to pry it off.
"You can stand there and listen to his last breaths then, before I snap his neck," Kevin says as his hand squeezes Craig's throat harder.
"Ken...ny…" Craig strains to get out.
In one, quick, blurry movement, Kenny turns and punches Kevin. His fist making contact with the back of his head and causing him to drop and let go of Craig as he stumbles forward.
"Ow—fuck!" Kevin hisses and places a hand where the impact was.
"I told you not to touch him before," Kenny says in a low snarl.
As Craig coughs, trying to catch his breath, he thinks he catches a glimpse of something near Kenny's mouth, before Kenny faces away again.
"Still going to play coy huh?" Kevin spits, "If that's the case, then you're not going to be able to save this human."
And in the next second, Kevin lifts Craig over his shoulder and carries him off into the woods.
"Kevin!" Kenny shouts and follows after him.
Everything happens so fast for Craig. One second he's on the ground and the next, he's being thrown over Kevin's shoulder and carried off into the nearby woods at an alarming speed. Despite how dark it is, Craig can feel the brush of nearby bushes, branches and trees go by him. He's carried like this for a few more seconds before he's tossed onto the ground in front of a tree. When he pushes himself up with his hands, to look around, he can make out that he's in a small clearing now, as the light from the moon passes over it. As he looks up more, his eyes land on Kevin's much more brightly glowing green ones, now staring down at him from a shadowed face.
"Why are you doing this?" Craig asks, trying to keep calm as best he can even though he was terrified. "I haven't told anyone anything about you or Kenny so—"
"Just stay there and shut up," Kevin interrupts before facing away, "I need to make sure."
Craig isn't sure what he means by that last sentence. Make sure of what? He thinks before hearing something rustle nearby and Kenny's form emerging from the woods, his eyes now glowing as well.
"I knew you wouldn't be too far behind," Kevin says, "I see that you also removed your contacts while following me as well."
"Just let him go Kevin," Kenny says.
"If you want him, then come get him," Kevin replies with a sneer, "or are you afraid, little brother?"
Kenny growls in response, but doesn't move. Craig isn't sure as to why, was Kenny really that worried about him seeing his full face that much?
"I guess you're all talk and no bite then," Kevin says as he quickly turns to Craig again and lifts him up.
"No!" Kenny shouts and runs towards them.
Kevin lets out something to that of a bemused laugh, before hurling Craig to the side in a direct path with a big tree. Craig's moving fast, too fast that he knows if he hits anything, he will most likely die from this speed. Craig's eyes shut closed, bracing for his body to slam into something hard and crush him upon impact. But while expecting the worst to happen, he is instead met with the opposite of it, as he makes contact with something much softer than what he expects. It wraps around him tightly before a loud harsh thud happens. It takes a few moments to process that he's not experiencing any pain, and isn't in shock, before he slowly opens an eye.
"Kenny?" Craig asks strained, opening his other eye and noticing the orange material hugging him. He coughs again as he looks up more, and realizes that he's on top of Kenny now, as he seemed to have caught him before he crashed into the tree they now lie against. Craig's gaze is drawn to Kenny's face when he hears him groan, and it widens at the sight of very sharp teeth and some kind of torn, slitted flesh now only a few inches away from his face.
"Craig…"
He sees the flesh and bone move as a pair of brightly glowing eyes look down at him. It startles him, and he can't help but tense, not really knowing how to process what he's seeing.
"He's afraid," Kevin says and Kenny glares at him. The glare causes his face to contort into something unsettling and Craig's chest tightens because of it. "His fear grows for you," Kevin continues, "I'm sure that you can tell why, especially with how close you are to him.
"Shut up," Kenny says lowly.
"I'm only stating the truth," Kevin tells him.
There's a threatening growl that escapes from the back of Kenny's throat as his teeth start to bare, but he stops when spotting Craig's expression, that could only be read as fearful. Kenny closes his eyes and covers the bottom half of his face as best he can with his parka.
"Are you okay?" he asks Craig. At first Craig doesn't realize that it's him who he's talking to, until Kenny opens his eyes again to look at him. Craig in response gives a very slow, hesitant, nod of the head. "That's good," Kenny says and moves his arms away, "can you move?" Craig nods again, and it takes a few moments for him to realize that he's being asked to move off of him.
Once Craig moves off Kenny, Kenny gets up to his feet and looks at Kevin.
"No need to get aggressive anymore," Kevin tells him, "I'm done here." with that, he turns and heads off. The words of, "At least for now," echo out as his silhouette fades into the tree line.
Once he's gone, a silence sets in. For a long while, Kenny just stands in place, his back to Craig.
"I'll… leave you be," Kenny eventually says and goes to leave.
"Wait—" Craig finally says, "I…" he wanted to say something, but didn't know what. He didn't know how to react to seeing it, so when he trails off and doesn't say anything more Kenny starts to head off.
And Craig watches as he slowly fades into the tree line shadows.
...
When Craig makes it home sometime later, he falls face first into his bed, letting out a sigh. While walking back and going over what happened, he knew that his reaction wasn't the best to have. Even though he did indeed get startled when seeing Kenny's mouth, with sharp teeth and strange stretched and torn flesh around it, somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that, that was still Kenny. The one that he had grown so attached to over time and started to experience more than just friendliness for as well. And these thoughts made him feel terrible. He knew that Kenny wouldn't hurt him, but for the short time that he saw those sharp pointed teeth, a small thought couldn't help but pop up in the back of his mind, 'But what if?' and it made him feel even worse for having that thought, along with how sad Kenny's eyes were when he looked at him. He didn't want Kenny to be sad just because he wasn't sure on how to react at the sudden and very close reveal. He didn't mean to look at him afraid like that, or to not stop him from leaving, because he didn't know how to react either.
As Craig thinks of all the times he was around Kenny and how he didn't want to remove his mask because he didn't want to scare him, Craig's hand curls into a ball gathering the bed spread underneath it. He turns his head to the side, eyes landing onto the small plastic mood ring he still wore. His eyes start to sting and he turns his head back down into the mattress. He didn't mean to react that way, for his lack of words to be mistaken for fear.
He didn't mean it.
The rest of the weekend passes and Craig wonders if Kenny will show up for school. He had left his window opened the past two nights in hopes that Kenny would show and he could talk to him, but he didn't. Which left him feeling even worse about what had happened.
As Craig gets to his first class of the morning, he's not surprised to see Kenny's not there. For most of the class, he spends it thinking of Kenny and what he saw, playing with the mood ring on his finger, which he hadn't taken off since the night of the fair, and fiddling around with the white turtleneck shirt he chose to wear that day to hide the new bruise marks that were on his neck from where Kevin had held him.
As the classes pass and lunch arrives, Craig finds himself outside, wandering to that spot that he hadn't been to for what seemed like forever now. Something tells him that he shouldn't go, because Kevin could be nearby, but he doesn't care. He walks until coming to the stream and taking a seat on the big rock by it. He takes in a deep breath before opening his mouth to let it out.
"Kenny," he starts, "if you're there, can you come out? I want to talk to you," he closes his eyes and hangs his head. "Please," it's quiet around him, said for the small stream and the trees rustling in the wind around him. He opens his eyes and they land on the ring again. He starts to play with it absentmindedly. "I'm sorry," he whispers out, "I didn't mean to…"
There's a familiar sting in his eyes as his vision of the ring starts to blur.
"I should be the one saying sorry."
Craig's head shoots up at the voice, and he finds Kenny standing off to the side, wearing a new black mask.
"Kenny!" he exclaims and stands up.
Kenny's head tilts downwards and he averts his gaze.
"All that I seem to do is cause you sadness and—" Kenny's cut off by Craig suddenly wrapping his arms around him and pulling him into a hug.
"I'm sorry," Craig murmurs into his chest before looking up at him, "I didn't mean to look scared. I was just startled and didn't know what to say or how to react. But I don't think you're scary and I'm not afraid of you."
"Craig…"
"And you don't cause me sadness," Craig adds quietly.
Kenny looks at him for a few seconds, his bright eyes still looking somewhat sad to Craig, but soft at the same time. He lifts a hand up to his face and wipes the corner of his eye.
"It's hard for me to believe I don't make you sad, when there's tears in the corners of your eyes," Kenny says softly.
"I was worried you may have disappeared again because of my reaction," Craig says and slowly lets him go, to wipe them away. "Or that you might hate me for it."
"I couldn't hate you," Kenny replies, "not you..."
When Craig finishes wiping the tears away, he looks at Kenny again and lifts up his own hand. He hesitates for a brief moment, making sure that it's alright for what he was going to do. Kenny closes his eyes, allowing him to continue and Craig moves Kenny's hood down. Then he moves his hand to his mask and lightly runs his fingers across it, feeling the small grooves and bumps of cheek and month under it. He swallows as he hooks a finger over the top of his mask and carefully pulls it down. The mask rests under Kenny's chin as his face is once again fully exposed to him.
Now that it was daytime out, Craig could clearly see three gash-like slits on either side of Kenny's cheeks. He runs the tips of his fingers over them and they come to an eventual stop at the corner of his mouth. He examines the thin pair of pale lips, before lightly touching them as well. Their cold, like the rest of Kenny's flesh and surprisingly soft and smooth, unlike his own, which were more dry and chapped usually. His thumb moves over his bottom lip and parts it, revealing the sharp set of teeth behind them, similar to a shark, or a lion, or some other type of carnivorous teeth. A strong curious urge settles in him and he can't help but want to touch them, just to see how sharp they actually are.
"Can I touch them?" Craig asks nervously.
Kenny's eyes open halfway but he doesn't reply. Instead it seemed like he was debating something over in his head before closing them again and opening his mouth, the gashes on the sides of his cheeks stretch as he does and peeks of light slip through them. Craig hesitates for a few seconds before he realizes Kenny's silent answer to his question and tentatively slips his index finger to the tip of a pointed surface. The tooth is sharp, but not sharp enough to puncture unless he were to press down much harder. He runs his finger over a couple more tips of teeth, before his gaze lands on Kenny's tongue. The color of it is much different than most people's. Where a deep red to pink should be, is instead a deep bluish-purple color. Then there's the fact that it seemed to have a much longer, narrower, length for it towards its tip. It also appeared like Kenny was trying very hard to keep it away from his finger, although he guessed that having someone else's finger in his mouth, would cause probably anyone to react in a similar fashion.
There's a subtle movement that Craig notices from Kenny, only for a moment, but long enough for him to tell that it's a small shiver of some sort spreading from his shoulders before a light cool breath brushes against his finger and down his hand.
Craig removes his finger and Kenny opens his eyes. He looks over Kenny's face as a whole for a bit. From the long blond hair that covered his ears and most of his striking beautiful eyes. How its strands hung so low that they covered some parts of the gashes along his cheeks. Down to his pale lips that rested above a pointed chin. Separately if his face was divided between top and lower half, it would seem as if it belonged to two separate individuals because of the stark contrast of it. But together as a whole… they created quite the face. A very unique face, that belonged to Kenny.
Craig smiles a bit and places a hand back on Kenny's cheek.
"You're not scared?" Kenny asks.
"No," Craig replies, "I could never fear such a wonderful being."
Surprise crosses Kenny's features and Craig gently brings up his arms and wraps them around his neck, pulling him down and into another hug. One of his hands runs up the back of Kenny's head, and gets tangled in his hair. He was glad that he got to see Kenny again and that Kenny allowed him to see his face and be able to touch it. Because now he knew for sure that what he felt for him was indeed real and hadn't changed at all. And that Kenny's face belonged to the one that he kept on falling more and more for.
"Promise me that you won't disappear again, alright?" Craig murmurs into his shoulder, and Kenny leans in closer to him and wraps his arms around him, returning the hug. He turns his head into his neck, and Craig can feel his mouth press against the top of his turtleneck.
"I promise…" Kenny mumbles back.
After that, Craig decides to skip the rest of the school day, not really caring about what happens in the classes he missed and too worried about parting from Kenny again. He had just wanted to spend time with him and be close to him without any distractions.
...
Some time passes and they eventually find their way to Craig's house. It's empty of course, as everyone is still either at school or work. They head up to Craig's room, where he opens the windows for Kenny as usual.
"I still don't get why the windows need to stay open whenever you're in my room," Craig says, making his way to his bed.
"...It's your scent," Kenny says.
"My scent?" Craig repeats.
"Remember what I said before? About everyone having one? Well you room has a very strong scent because of how much time you spend in it," Kenny explains, "actually, it's quite overwhelming at times."
"Wait, are you okay to be in here then? I don't want you to be uncomfortable," Craig says with concern.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Cause we could go somewhere else."
"It wouldn't make a difference really."
"Why?"
"Because you naturally have a strong scent."
"I do?" Craig asks, taking a seat on his bed, "What does it smell like?"
"It's just... very strong."
"Wait, you mean like stronger than other people's?"
"Yes."
"Really?" Craig asks and sniffs himself.
"It can't be picked up by normal human noses," Kenny informs, "but it can affect those around you sometimes."
"What?" Craig looks at him shocked. "How?"
"Because of how yours is, it might subliminally affect those around you, like in school, to behave a certain way around you," Kenny explains.
"Seriously?" Craig says, "But I've never noticed anything."
"I have," Kenny says, looking elsewhere in the room.
"Well, how do they usually act then?" Craig asks, confused.
"Most of the time, they will look at you when you look away, or stare at… certain parts of you, or whisper about you to their social groups of friends." Kenny explains.
Craig looks down, he had never once noticed anything like that around him, or rather, he never paid much attention to care as no one at his school ever caught his interest throughout the years. At least, not until Kenny. But that was mainly due to how strange he found him to be back then.
"What kind of things do they say?" Craig asks, looking back up.
"Just things they'd like to do to you. Mainly girls saying how they would ride you into next Sunday or something," Kenny replies, "although there have been some guys who have said those things as well. And a few who said that you would be the one doing the riding."
"O-oh," is all Craig can think of to say.
"Although most of them seem to just want to hear you moan for some reason," Kenny adds, "can't say that I blame them." Craig's face flushes instantly at that and he can't tell if Kenny is kidding about it or not. "They also talk about all the ways they'd have you as well," Kenny says and his eyes seem to focus intently elsewhere, "so many of them say such dirty things with you in them."
"Well, I never heard any of them say anything to me. So I guess that's good," Craig says and unzips his jacket, taking it off from how warm he felt. "I wonder why mine is so strong though."
"I wonder why too," Kenny says, his eyes now back on Craig as he watches him toss his jacket onto the dresser in front of him. "I know that some people just have them though, no reason other than just being born that way," Kenny adds, "Although I've only ever met two with such strong scents in my lifetime. You and one other who… died."
"Oh," Craig replies, "wait, when you mean died, do you mean…" Kenny nods and Craig lies down onto his back, "oh…" he repeats.
"When I first came across them, I was so curious about them, but Kevin found out and well…" Kenny trails off.
"No offense, but your brother is a bit of a dick," Craig says flatly.
"My brother has a tendency to like to try and ruin or destroy any interest I may show in people at all, even when it's only from watching from afar. He'll view it as problematic for the family."
"Wow…" Craig frowns, and it's quiet for a few seconds before he sits back up. "God I hate wearing turtlenecks," he says, changing the topic to something less grim and takes it off as he stands to go get another shirt. He walks to his dresser, but freezes halfway from opening the drawer and glances over at Kenny, who is now walking towards him. Craig faces him and is about to ask what's wrong when Kenny touches his neck.
"This bruise," he says quietly.
"Oh this," Craig says and looks away, "it's no big deal. It will heal."
"I'm sorry," Kenny says.
"Wha—no don't apologize, it's not your fault—" Craig is cut off by Kenny's arms around him.
"I'm sorry," Kenny repeats, much more quietly.
"Kenny, I'm fine, really," Craig tells him and wraps his arms around him, "It wasn't your fault for what happened. Not this time or the last, okay?"
"But if I—"
"Not. Your. Fault." Craig repeats more clearly and lets go of him, as Kenny does also. "Let's watch something," Craig suggests and goes over to the T.V. He turns to a station playing a crime detective show, before he faces back to Kenny. "There," he smiles. And for a moment, he can feel Kenny's eyes on him as they travel down his torso, prompting Craig to quickly head back to his dresser in search of a shirt. "Why don't you take a seat, while I search for a shirt?" Craig suggests and Kenny takes a seat on the side of his bed.
When Craig finds a shirt and puts it on, he takes a seat opposite to Kenny and watches the show. At some point, he finds his hand next to Kenny's and the urge to want to hold it strong, but he moves his hand away instead and lies down on his back with a frustrated sigh.
"I think I've seen this episode a dozen times now," Craig says when Kenny glances down at him. Craig places his hands behind his head and stares at the ceiling lost in thought.
"I'm glad the other healed," Kenny says, looking forward again and Craig looks at him confused. "The bruise I mean."
"Oh yeah," Craig says back, guessing that explained why he was looking at him before. "Do you want to spend the night here?" he asks absentmindedly.
"You know, when most ask someone to spend the night, while in a setting like this, there are usually ulterior motives," Kenny says, glancing back at him. Craig doesn't know what he means though, being much too lost in thought. "Though I know that's not what you mean," he adds, "but I would advise you not to be alone in other people's bedrooms, because your rules won't apply in them."
Craig's face slowly flushes as he finally gets what Kenny's hinting at.
"This—that isn't what I meant!" Craig says quickly.
Although with how things were set up with them in his room, on his bed, and lying on it. Then with him changing right in front of him before… Craig's face burns more.
"You're so obliviously innocent sometimes," Kenny says and faces the T.V again, "makes me wonder how I'm still alive…" he mumbles.
Craig isn't sure what that last sentence means exactly, but he sits up again, now feeling too awkward to lie down all sprawled out like he was with those thoughts now in his head.
The rest of the day passes with the two sitting mainly in silence and watching various shows. Craig wasn't too concerned about his parents coming into his room when they eventually arrived home later, as they knew how he liked to be and usually they would just prefer to call out to him from the other side of it anyways when dinner was ready, or if they needed him for something. So he didn't need to explain Kenny being in his room. When they head to bed, he offers to get Kenny food, but he declines it and it makes Craig wonder more just what exactly Kenny eats and when.
Eventually Craig lies down to sleep, getting tired. The bed dips as Kenny lies next to him, he smiles a bit and turns to him and finally holds his hand when realizing that the day was coming to a close, and that Kenny most likely wouldn't be there when he woke up. Kenny holds it back and leans close to Craig, allowing him to lean into his chest more. A part of Craig doesn't want to fall asleep, in fear that the other will disappear again, but he knows that Kenny will be at school later on, because he said he wouldn't disappear again. Still though, he can't help but worry. But he tries his best not to pay it any mind and drift off to sleep.
When he awakes, he's alone. There's a tinge of worry, but he pushes it away in wanting to believe that Kenny would keep his word. And so, he goes about getting ready for the school day.