Requested by CruelKittenThesis. Thanks so much for the suggestion! I hope you enjoy!
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While playing a video game, a passing storm knocks the power out, leaving Craig and Tweek alone in the darkness. Tweek starts to worry, but Craig is there to keep him grounded.
At 9:43pm, the storm entered the town of South Park, Colorado.
This wasn't a large or dangerous storm, however. Not like the kinds whose churning funnels of clouds would spawn huge vortexes of destruction, or whose pounding rain would be accompanied by a savage barrage of dense, golf ball sized hail. It was just one of those lazy summer storms that rolled in with little fanfare, bringing with it only the occasional branching bolt to crack across the sky along with intermittent stronger wind gusts here and there. One that would most likely come and go in less than an hours time, and that would be completely forgotten by morning.
So subtle was its entrance that the two boys seated in the Tweak's living room hadn't even noticed its arrival. Their minds were too caught up in the fantastic world of the video game they had been playing all that night. Their ears too tuned into the ambient sounds of the jungle wilderness that made for the level's scenery. Certainly thunderstorms were the last thing on their minds.
The actual Tweaks; that is, the Mr. and Mrs., had been minding the family owned coffee shop all evening, and wouldn't return until well after the shop closed at 10. They had left the boys at home upon their own request. It wasn't often that the Tucker's were out of town, leaving their son in the care of his boyfriends parents. The two had been so excited to spend their night hanging out and playing games together. The Tweak's weren't about to take that away from them.
Craig took a moment to re-situate himself; forcing a deep, calming breath and adjusting his hat which had migrated down his forehead with the help of nervous perspiration. This particular game challenge was one that he had made it to and attempted several times in the past, but had yet to succeed. This was the farthest he could ever get. Not only did it require an immense amount of skill, concentration, and perhaps even a bit of luck, but it also was made up of several smaller trials that all had to be completed in succession. Failing even one of them would warp his character back to the start in order to try it all over again. But he was feeling particularly driven today. He always found himself more capable when he was teamed up with his favorite gaming buddy.
Beside him, Tweek tried his best to contain his anxious energy, not wanting to contaminate Craig with any spillover and ruin his concentration. Though earlier in the night the two had traded off the controller every so often, allowing both boys to get a chance to play, Tweek already knew from his three failed attempts at this challenge that this was a part only Craig could fight past. After all, Tweek couldn't keep all his nervous ticks and twitches in check for that long. Craig always took on the lengthy challenges, simply because he could keep his cool. But even though he wasn't the one currently playing, he still felt incredibly on edge; his heart racing and his hands trembling.
Once again, Craig arrived at the final, most difficult leg of the trial. He aligned his character up with the primitive looking lever, pausing just a moment to monitor the fearsome, fiery colored monster lurking hungrily just below him. After receiving a hushed chirp of encouragement from the bright eyed boy beside him, Craig tightened his grip on the controller, ordering his avatar to pull the lever before him. Just as he did, the floor beneath his characters feet gave way, dropping him onto the same level as the ravenous razor beaked predator waiting for him. The instant he landed, Craig sent the avatar sprinting in the opposite direction, and the beast was quick to take chase.
He only had one shot at this. Eventually, a single doorway would come into view. Craig had to stop his character directly in the space in front of it and immediately exit the area to avoid the charging monster. If he undershot or overshot, even by a single step, there would be no way to readjust in time before the creature skewered the character on it's rostrum, and Craig would start all over again.
The door appeared. With a stressful gasp, Craig stopped dead in his tracks, managing to enter the passage just before he could become the predators next meal. It took what felt like one thousand tries, but he finally did it. For the very first time, he cleared the challenging trial and proceeded to the next area.
Tweek threw his hands to his scalp, grabbing fistfuls of bleach blonde hair as he joyously shrieked with excitement. Craig shouted a thrilled exclamation and leapt quickly to his feet, dropping the controller to the carpet and throwing his fists up high in triumph.
At that exact moment, a blinding flash lit up the darkened windows and a thunderous crack exploded through the sky, rattling the modest household with a sickening grumble and startling screams from both Tweek and Craig. The tv, game console, and all the lights in the house immediately shut down, and the two boys became bathed in the darkness.
"What!? Wh-what was that!?" Tweek howled, his strained voice escaping much louder than he had intended as he threw himself deeper into the couch's crease, trying in vain to hide from the pitch blackness. "What happened to- to the power!?"
Unfortunately, Craig hadn't caught the question. As soon as he calmed down from the initial startle, he charged blindly forward with a desperate gasping, kneeling just in front of where he knew the tv stood. After a brief moment of groping, his hands came upon the old Playstation, and he frantically mashed the power button over and over again, waiting to see that little green light that signaled the system's activation.
"No! No no no!" He growled, pressing the button even harder. But it was no use. The power was well and truly out. "Damn it! I didn't save! I finally beat that level and it didn't let me save!"
Almost as if the two were carrying on two separate conversations, Tweek continued babbling as if he hadn't even heard Craig's dilemma. "Oh god! What if it's a tornado? What if the power is gone for good? Ahh! And what about my parents!?" Tweek began shivering uncontrollably as a true breakdown began to take form.
Meanwhile, Craig only continued venting his frustrations. "It took me two years to beat that stupid temple challenge. Two years! I'll never get that far again, all thanks to this stupid storm!"
"What if the tornado already hit the coffee shop!?" Tweek was hyperventilating now, beginning to notice that faint sweet note on his breath that always seemed to precede a panic attack. "Oh Jesus, my parents never would've survived in a tornado! Mom and Dad are dead! They're DEAD! The house is ruined, the shop is destroyed, and I'm gonna have to live on the streets all alone!"
Finally, the building frustration coupled with the persistant darkness and endless screaming pushed Craig to his limit.
"Oh, will you just stop it!?" He viciously barked, stomping onto his feet. "Don't you hear how insane that sounds!? Your house isn't ruined and your parents aren't dead! It's just a stupid thunderstorm that knocked out the stupid power and ruined my one chance at finally beating this god-forsaken game!"
Though he couldn't see, Craig could tell by the subtle change in Tweek's frenzied breathing pattern that his furious outburst left Tweek cowering on the cushions. But fear quickly melted into a bitter sorrow, feeling genuinely hurt that Craig would offer accusations rather than sympathy.
"Oh gee! I'm sorry!" Tweek's enraged voice laced with venomous sarcasm began to waver. "I didn't realize your game was that much more important than my families well being! I'll just stop! Because I'm obviously CHOOSING to be panicked about these things! Because I totally LOVE being terrified every moment of my life!" Though he tried his hardest to suppress it, Tweek's composure cracked, tears of anxiety, anger, and anguish flowing freely down his face. "Because you know I have complete control over myself once I get scared into a panic..."
Honestly surprised, Craig could only listen in a stunned silence as Tweek broke down into an overwhelmed sobbing, his fragile mind simply incapable of handling so many emotions at once. This angry meltdown had been the only thing Tweek had said since the power shut down that Craig had truly paid attention to, having previously been so distracted with the state of his game save, and now he found himself going over all the previous statements to see what he had missed. Had he been listening, he would've known Tweek was about to enter a panic.
His eyes finally beginning to adjust to the loss of light, Craig could just barely see enough of the room around him to slowly approach the couch, seating himself once more on the far side by the arm rest. He could hear Tweek purposefully shift away from him and defiantly turn to face the other end of the sofa. He supposed he deserved that.
"Look, Tweek..." Craig began delicately, speaking in the calmest voice he could muster but which still sounded just like his standard monotone droning. "Everything is alright. It's just a little storm that took out the power. It'll be back before you know it. I'm sure your parents and your family cafe are both just fine."
Tweek, still mildly frustrated with Craig's initial response, puffed out his bony chest. "Yeah? And how would you know?" He growled, his anxiety trumping any logic it was presented, no matter how sound.
Craig slowly snaked his hand closer to Tweeks on the cushion beside him, stopping just short of actually making contact. "The sirens always sound the second there's a tornado." He explained. "And there's a public tornado shelter just on main street. Even if it had been a tornado, I'm sure your parents would've known what to do." Craig apprehensively placed his thumb along the ragged, habitually chewed nails of Tweek's fingertips. "And you know that I would have kept us safe if it came to that. It's just your brain trying to trick you again."
Though Tweek's minds raced with anxiety induced counterarguments to each of Craig's perfectly logical explanations (what if they had simply forgotten to set the siren? or what if the strong winds had caused a tree to fall on the coffee shop killing the married owners?) he knew Craig was ultimately right. They had learned rather recently that acknowledging the anxiety as an irrational deception helped for Tweek to take in Craig's standard approach of using simple logic. Craig had also learned over time that acknowledging all of Tweek's hypothetical scenarios, no matter how inane or highly unlikely, also helped to diminish his stress. It affirmed each of his fears and proved Craig was listening, no matter what sort of impossible situations Tweek's mind came up with. Best of all, it helped Tweek to begin to realize and separate what was a legitimate concern from what were just paranoid, racing thoughts.
"Mmmm... You're right." Tweek let his hand slide further beneath Craig's touch. "I just got overwhelmed, I guess. I was so excited about the game when suddenly there's this big noise and its scary and I knew you'd be upset about losing your progress... And worst of all, now we're stuck here with-... I-in the... well..."
"We're what?" Craig became confused by Tweek's shift into incoherent mumbling, which was only made worse as his nervous flinches added uneven hiccups to his voice.
Tweek didn't say a word, but responded only with a turn of his head and an expression of humiliated embarrassment that could just barely be seen in the low light.
That was all it took for Craig to understand. Tweek had always been self conscious of his mild fear of the dark. Now that the power was out, the entire house was cast in shadow, and it was making him uneasy. Craig never really understood why Tweek was so ashamed of his own apprehension towards the darkness. Clyde was far worse, and Craig had put up with him for a whole lot longer.
"Does your family have a place they keep candles? Or a flashlight, maybe?" Craig suggested.
Tweek shook his head. "I mean... They might? But I wouldn't know where they keep them..." A particularly loud roll of thunder rattled the windows, serving to make Tweek's sporadic twitching worse.
Not ready to give up just yet, Craig continued to ponder their options. As he puzzled, he heard the faint sound of the boy beside him breathing a stressed and sleepy yawn before settling more into the far side of the couch, the armrest acting as a pillow. At the same time, he took out his phone and began silently playing the mindless puzzle game he always used when he was particularly stressed. He was tired, but until he could calm back down, he would never be able to fall asleep.
Craig reached into his pocket to glance at his own phone. 9:58pm. Tweek's parents would be returning home in a half hour or so. They'd know what to do about the loss of electricity. He just needed to keep Tweek calm until then.
An idea struck him as he stared at the electronics in their hands.
Using precise taps and swipes, Craig activated the 'flashlight' feature on his phone. A bulb on the rear of the device lit up with a surprising amount of strength, illuminating a small section of the room.
Tweek looked up from his game in quiet surprise as Craig carefully leaned forward, placing his phone upside down on the couch cushion between, allowing the light to engulf them in a darkness-banishing aura. Craig then laid backwards, snuggling into the other armrest of the couch, the two boys both small enough to completely stretch across the furniture without invading each others space.
Tweek shook his head, suddenly hit with a pang of guilt. "Wait, Craig..." He sat up, fumbling with his device. "You don't need to do that. I'll use my phone for the light, so you can still mess around on yours while we're waiting..."
Before he could touch the electronic on the seat, Craig silently reached out a sturdy hand to protect the phone from Tweek's intentions, not even budging when the latter tried to nudge it away.
"No, it's fine. Mine is the light right now." He looked to Tweek with caring yet unrelenting eyes. "My phone doesn't have anything fun on it anyway. I just use it for the internet most of the time, and the power knocked the modem out. You can keep playing around with yours. I'll be fine just resting here."
A warm realization overwhelming him, Tweek nodded and finally pulled his invading hand back, relaxing into his side of the couch once more. Though Craig had tried to explain his decision using perfectly logical arguments, Tweek knew that his true intention was to make sure Tweek still had his phone available to use as stress relief. He gave up his source of entertainment so that the other could hold onto his, and Tweek found that little gesture so unspeakably kind. A fond smile spread across his lips as he returned to his little game, doing his best to take his mind off the darkness and the low grumbles of thunder still shaking the house on occasion.
Satisfied that Tweek wouldn't try again, Craig also layed back down, gently folding his hands on his chest and breathing a cleansing sigh. He stared blankly at the barely illuminated ceiling above him, his thoughts beginning to wander with nothing else to do. He didn't mind, however. He liked enjoying quiet moments with his own sleepy thoughts every now and again. And the rhythmic tapping of Tweeks fingers on his phone screen, the gentle tapping of rain accented by breaths of heavy wind, even the gentle gasps that accompanied his companions nervous spasms all served as a wonderfully calming soundtrack to accompany his wandering mind. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to just take it all in for a little while.
It was when Tweek was just starting a fourth round of his mindless game that he heard it. It was so quiet at first, he almost believed the sound was coming from some invisible advertisement in the phone app that he had failed to close. But when killing and relaunching the game failed to stop the gentle sound, he knew it had to be coming from somewhere else. The sound was too deliberate to have an organic source, such as the rain or wind. And with the power still out and Craig's phone still untouched as the light source, that didn't leave a whole lot of possible culprits left.
Carefully, in an attempt to not arouse suspicion, Tweek glanced up from his device to the far end of the couch.
It was Craig. He was singing.
His body was nestled comfortably against the plush armrest, his face softened and his eyes gently closed in a completely relaxed expression, his hands neatly folded against his sternum. His voice streamed from his lips at such a remarkably muted volume, yet still Tweek began picking up the soft lyrics.
"But you can skyrocket away from me,
And never come back if you find another galaxy,
Far from here with more room to fly,
Just leave me your stardust to remember you by..."
It wasn't the first time Tweek heard Craig's gentle singing voice. He actually sang to himself pretty frequently, despite what one might assume of him. Though his nasally droning was perhaps a tad comical when being used to croon certain quiet melodies, Tweek had actually been quite fond of it. And since Craig cared little for what others thought of him, he didn't have to struggle with the barrier of self consciousness as other people did. Although, the moment someone pointed out he was singing, he would almost immediately stop, and it would be a long while before one could catch him singing again.
Tweek pretended to keep using his phone, tapping away at the colorful screen. But in reality, he was just listening to that sweet little song rising gracefully from Craig. He didn't need his mindless game when Craig's peaceful melody was there to settle him into a true feeling of absolute serenity.
"If you be my star, I'll be your sky,
You can hid underneath me and come out at night,
When I turn jet black and you show off your light,
I live to let you shine.
I live to let you shine."
When Craig would wake the next morning, he would find himself and Tweek still nestled on opposite sides of the couch, tucked gently into blankets that the Tweak's had provided upon their return. His phone, he would find, was still settled between them, though the light would be long since turned off. And he would quickly notice that, despite looking as though he spent a good portion of the night awake, Tweek would seem to be slumbering peacefully, his mouth almost appearing turned in a tranquil smile.
And when he would discover the power had returned and would go to check on his game to see where his last save was, he would find that his file had been played sometime after he had fallen asleep and saved just beyond the door protected by the razor beaked red beast.
And the file, he would notice, would have been renamed, "Your Star".
So ends the first of the oneshot requests! Feel free to send in your own! Check chapter one for guidelines!
Enjoyed what you read? Consider buying me a Ko-Fi! I would sincerely appreciate it! My Ko-Fi name is Frillythingy!
By the way, the song used for the fic is Boats and Birds- By Gregory and the Hawk. It was recommended by CruelKittenThesis!
