Tweek

"Ngh- And d-don't come back!" Letting out a growl, a sound that was accompanied by a twitch that made his Manbearpig pelt ruffle menacingly, Tweek raised his club in victory as the remaining Elves ran off, all of them injured in some way. As the cheers of the Humans still conscious filled him, the boy turned around and ignored the pain of his own injuries so he could shake his club and yell, "WE ARE HUMANITY!"

"YEAH!" the other boys answered at once, their weapons held aloft. Even those that had been injured cheered, however weakly. Looking at all of them, Tweek felt a surge of pride. Just a few weeks ago, there would have been no way for the Humans to beat the Elves in combat, not without sustaining heavy losses of their own. Now, Tweek hadn't been in a battle that they'd lost for two straight weeks. If that wasn't winning, he didn't know what was.

Eyes traveling over to his partner in crime, Tweek had to give himself a little shake when his brain protested the sight of Butters instead of Craig next to him. The happy boy was grinning from ear to ear, and Tweek felt a flash of guilt before pushing a smile onto his own face. No, it was fine. He was fine. Things changed, this was life. Besides, it had just been another ordinary scuffle.

"We kicked their butts!" Butters bubbled out, placing a happy hand on Tweek's shoulder, a gesture the blond shivered away from. Undeterred as always, the Paladin hooked his Hammer of Justice back on his belt as he continued, "Y'know, I think we oughtta be able to take th' Stick back soon or somethin', don'tcha think fellas?" Looking at their other soldiers, the boy asked, "I mean, how much more of this is it gonna take?"

"Well, far be it from me to read Token's mind, but I'm pretty sure we're getting close to the deadline, right?" Ryan asked, scratching the back of his head, which was still bleeding. "I mean, the girls did ask us to get the stick by March, right?"

Twitching, Tweek pulled his pelt around his shoulders more firmly as if that would ward off the mention of the girls before he squeaked, "Jesus! That's so much pressure! W-what if we screw it up?" He knew they wouldn't, Token was the one in charge of the strategies and the planning and stuff, but Tweek was still worried. It felt like they'd already given so much to the girls, he didn't want to lose it all now.

"We still do have Bebe as a bargaining chip of sorts if we need to resort to that," William pointed out, whipping his Mage staff against the melting snow, clearing it of the flecks of blood clinging to it. It was strange, but hearing the original purpose of Craig and Bebe dating made Tweek blink in confusion for a moment, before remembering how complicated the game had become. Somehow, the heat of a battle, no matter how small, tended to make all the semantics seem kind of unimportant.

Which, come to think of it, was probably why they sent Tweek on more battles than they did Craig. Tweek was a pawn, Craig was a bargaining chip. It made the blond twitch violently and let out a soft, "Oh god~!" as his brain supplied him with plenty of horrifying implications of that statement to satisfy his overactive mind. Jesus, what if they sacrifice him or something to the girls? What if they sacrifice both him and Bebe?! CLYDE WOULD BE SO UPSET THEY AREN'T ALLOWED TO SACRIFICE ANYONE!

"JESUS I HATE HUMAN SACRIFICE!" Tweek shrieked, twitching and shivering. Holstering his club so he could fumble for his expresso, Tweek gulped down some of it before shaking his head quickly and telling his soldiers, "T-Token said we need to be back at Kupa Keep soon, s-so we should probably leave, right?"

Smiling brightly, entirely ignoring Tweek's comment about human sacrifice as was so typical of most of South Park when it came to Tweek's weird tics, Butters gave a happy bounce on the balls of his feet before excitedly saying, "Yes! Princess Kenny said we should all b-be back as soon as possible, an' you know th'Grand Wizard, he'll be all sour if we're late or somethin' for no good reason."

As several of the Humans made sounds of agreement, Tweek shrugged his shoulders jerkily and puffed out a breath before saying, "Ghn- L-let's not be late then!" Keeping a hand on his short sword, Tweek trudged through the snow next to Butters as they walked out of the park and pressed on towards Kupa Keep. Like always, the other boys followed along behind them, all of them chatting about things that had nothing to do with the game at all.

Tweek didn't blame them. Though he still enjoyed the game, something about it was starting to dull. Despite the vigor the new victories had instilled in Humanity, Tweek found it was all starting to bleed together. One fight mixed with the next, losses and wins started to look the same, and every injury left him with a new fading bruise that reminded him that this came at a cost. Oh god, I'm starting to sound old! What if in the game I age differently? What if I get old and die!? JESUS THAT'S WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE!

Tugging on his hair, stifling his sounds of fear, Tweek had to spend the next few minutes dissuading himself from this very real concern. If I get old, what if no one wants to talk to me anymore? What if my parents throw me out of the house!? And what about Craig?! WHAT IF HE CAN'T EVEN RECOGNIZE ME! DOES TIME EVEN EXIST IN THIS GAME!? No, Craig would always recognize Tweek, even when they got to be old and wrinkled and Tweek went completely crazy and couldn't remember the Noirette, the taller boy would remember him.

Feeling a little better, Tweek reached for his coffee again and took several more sips, knowing he was getting close to empty but also knowing that they were going home soon, so it was okay. I wonder if Craig's going to come over today? Maybe he's not going to, he might have other things to do, I can't expect to hang out every day. But I still really want to hang out with him, I haven't been able to see him really because I had to go fight right after school.

Lost in his thoughts as he was, Tweek almost bumped into Kenny, who was standing outside of Kupa Keep, his fan splayed over his face and his daintily gloved hand planted on his hip. "Where have you been!?" Kenny demanded in his Princessy voice, swatting at Tweek with his fan, which the blond dodged with a shriek because he hated it when Kenny hit him with his fan. "We've been waiting forever Tweeky, could you have taken any longer?"

"Jesus I'm s-sorry!" Tweek yelped, twitching horribly and standing out of reach of Kenny so he could tug on his hair in peace. "It's just –rrr- the Elves were a little bit more annoying th-than usual! We came as soon as we c-could! Don't look at m-melikethatohgod~!"

Quickly stepping forward, Butters gave a bow before taking Kenny's hand and insisting, "M'lady, Tweek's right, those mean ol' Drow Elves were bein' a bit more mean than usual! B-but we still handled them an' I only had to revive Kevin!"

Eyes lighting up at once, as only Butters could make them do, Kenny instantly waved off the matter like he hadn't cared about it in the first place. "Oh Paladin Butters, of course you were being noble and valiant. You always are." Turning to the rest of them, Kenny looked them up and down before saying, in his wonderful and terrifying falsetto, "There should be healing potions for all of you, I want every one of you fully healed and at their best when Token gives his speech. You've all fought bravely today, but I expected nothing less of the warriors of Kupa Keep."

Amid a chorus of agreements, Tweek straightened his shoulders and walked towards the gate with the other boys, the buzzing in his head returning to a dulled sound in the back of his head. Glancing up at what of the castle was visible before they'd turned the corner, Tweek gave a nod to Clyde, who was sitting at the top of one of the turrets. Knocking his helmet slightly askew in his typical, the brunet waved happily, calling as he did so, "Teacup! Did you kick their asses?!"

Shivering, Tweek yelled back, "Th-they didn't stand a chance!" Clyde's enthusiastic whoop made Tweek smile, despite all of the things still running around in his head. He'd gotten to go with Clyde on the last few battles, but this one had been small enough that Cartman had elected not to send yet another high-level fighter when it would just make things crowded. Even so, the brunet was grinning like an idiot, which made Tweek feel slightly better about the whole thing. He still hadn't forgotten Clyde's talk about just quitting the game entirely, and he didn't want to see it come to fruition.

As he walked into the courtyard, which was unusually crowded seeing as Token had called all the humans, Tweek's eyes automatically sought out a familiar brown cloak and blue chullo, the action second nature. The rest of the soldiers mingled with the Humans already there, finding friends and generally dispersing. Behind Tweek, he heard Kenny and Butters come in, Kenny babbling happily to the blond paladin, who was only too happy to listen to him. An involuntary sound escaping his mouth, Tweek twitched and jerked his head around, still looking.

It didn't take him long. Craig was standing near Token, talking softly with the black boy, his chin tilted up and his usual deadpan high on his face. Holding onto his arm, Bebe was chatting away as well, her eyes bright and lively, even from the other side of the yard. For a moment, Tweek felt a flash of hollow pain shoot through him and the alien, or rather, his own emotions, clawed at his stomach, but a second later he shook it off and kept walking. Even though the pain didn't go away, he shoved the knowledge of it to the back of his mind and forced himself to ignore it.

He was pretty used to it after all. It had taken a month, but eventually, the newness of the situation and the absolute terror Craig and Bebe dating had caused him had all faded. Naturally, it was still there, his stupid mind wasn't smart enough to understand that he had no reason to be upset anymore, but Tweek was getting better. At this point, it was one of those things he just accepted. Sometimes he got to spend time around Craig while they were playing the game, most of the time Bebe was there. Craig generally had to deal with whatever thing Kenny had contrived that day for him and Bebe to do, but occasionally, Tweek would get to fight with the boy and he'd learned to see that as enough.

Besides, even if Craig didn't talk to him as much while they were playing in the game, even if he didn't hover beside him like a comforting shadow, Tweek knew that once they all went home for the day, chances were good Craig would go with him. He didn't always, but Tweek could logically point to the things that Craig did for him and attempt to feel better. If he ignored the clawing in the pit of his stomach, eventually it faded.

As he walked towards where Scott Malkinson was giving the other boy's healing potions, Tweek unexpectedly felt a prickling on the back of his neck, a familiar series of chills. Nibbling on his lip, the blond found himself smiling slightly as he looked at his feet, his twitching subsiding slightly. It had been a long time since he'd felt those watchful eyes trained on him in such a way, but it made him feel oddly warm. How Craig's stare could do that was beyond Tweek, he just knew that his breathing evened out and his shoulders relaxed because of it. Despite them not being able to talk, despite Craig being caught up with his girlfriend, he still took the time to look Tweek's way.

Was it regressing back to a time when they didn't talk at all, probably? Tweek wasn't going to lie to himself and say that he liked it, but at the same time, things changed and he was trying hard to get better at accepting that fact. If Craig could handle dating a girl simply because everyone told him he had to, if Clyde could still smile even though he had to watch his best friend date the girl he liked, then Tweek could handle not having Craig around twenty-four/seven.

As Craig's eyes moved off of him and Tweek finally grabbed a healing potion, the blond twitched and darted between several Humans so he could head for the castle turret he'd seen Clyde in earlier. Though he didn't particularly like these parts of the castle, seeing as they sort of felt like they were going to collapse beneath his feet, Tweek still scaled the ladder that led up to the left one, keeping his eyes off the ground as he did. When Cartman's yard was particularly busy like it was now, Tweek preferred to be off the ground anyway.

"Teacup!" Clyde greeted the moment he noticed the blond coming up behind him. Helping Tweek up so he could sit down on the floor of the tower, Clyde bounced a little and said, "You excited for Token's speech? I've been waiting for this, I know he's got something big planned." Shivering, the blond nodded mutely, fumbling the top off of the potion and drinking half of it in one go. Looking up over the edge of the tower wall, Tweek watched as several Humans including Butters organized chairs in the courtyard, obviously trying to get everyone to calm down and situate themselves.

"Isn't the –ngh- d-deadline soon?" Tweek asked, his fingers tightening around the edge of the castle as he watched Bebe laugh at something that Token or Craig had said before tugging on one of the flaps of the Noirette's hat playfully. "I mean, Jesus, I don't want the girls t-to attack us!" Forcing himself to focus on something else, Tweek watched as Kenny twirled around Butters before blowing the boy a kiss. He's so weird. Does he know he's weird? Maybe I'm weird and that's normal?! As panic started to build in his brain, Tweek smacked his forehead against the side of the castle in irritation.

"Don't worry Tweek," Clyde assured the boy, leaning back against the wall of the castle himself so he could smile at the blond. "Token always knows what he's doing. I'll bet he's got it all timed down to the second." Tweek didn't like the sound of that, he didn't think he'd be able to follow a plan that exact. Tugging on his hair with a hand, Tweek let out a moan of worry, to which Clyde chuckled and reached forward so he could playfully ruffle the blonde's hair, an action Tweek dodged to the best of his ability with a squawk. "We'll meet the deadline, I know we will!"

Shuffling towards the ladder so he could get down, Tweek mumbled, "I kn-now but it still –rrr- stressful!" Quickly lowering himself back to the ground, happy that his feet were back on solid earth, Tweek waited for Clyde to jump down from the tower and land next to him with a thud that didn't seem to affect him in the slightest. He's probably got springs in his feet or something, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to do things like that.

Bouncing back up, Clyde grinned and said, "You're a badass barbarian Teacup, if anyone should be scared, it's those Valkyries. If they try and mess with you, you'd take them out easily." Shivering, remembering the last time he'd fought the Valkyries, Tweek mumbled out some non-committal answer and followed Clyde as they walked towards the chairs that were being filled in by Humans. From where she and Craig were standing, Bebe waved a hand and caught Clyde's eyes, beckoning them over once she had. Looking up at Craig, Tweek twitched under the Noirette's calm gaze, but still hurried towards the pair with Clyde.

As Bebe and Clyde almost instantly got caught up in a conversation, Tweek shivered and sat down in the seat beside where Craig had already taken root. Around them, people were quieting down as Butters helped Token roll out his strategy map without it falling off the drawbridge. Glancing up at Craig, Tweek found the boy already looking down at him, an eyebrow raised. What does he want? Did I do something? Ugh, I used to be better at reading him. Maybe he's just got more complicated…

Reaching his left hand over, Craig lightly poked at the mark on Tweek's forehead from where he'd slammed it against the side of the castle. At the feeling, a sound escaped Tweek that he quickly bit his lip to stifle, though he wasn't sure why he bothered. Expression flattening out again, Craig watched him for a moment longer before letting his hand fall to his lap. For a moment, Tweek expected him to say something, but the taller boy just looked at the sky before putting an arm around the blonde's shoulder and tugging him a little closer.

Settled by this, the buzz in Tweek's brain shut off and as the Grand Wizard cleared his throat, signaling quiet, the boy was able to pay attention to Token, who was already standing before the strategy board, his hands resting on his belt of knives. Lifting his chin, Cartman looked over everyone before saying, "Warriors of Zaron, I'm glad that you could all make it tonight. This is, clearly, a very important matter."

Nodding at Cartman, Token gave everyone a calculating look before saying, "As I'm sure Bebe and Feldspar could remind us, for the last month we've been taking steps to finally solidify our half of the bargain with the Valkyries. Through the actions of Feldspar, Tweek and several other Human warriors, we managed to obtain valuable information from the Elves, which I have been using to start to push the Humans ahead in this game."

There was a murmur of positivity at this, everyone liked the fact that they'd been winning, including Cartman clearly who was smirking smugly as he puffed out his chest. Twitching slightly, Tweek tugged at the edge of Craig's cloak, pulling it around his shoulders as the sky grew darker, the sun having already set officially an hour ago. He didn't blame everyone for being happy about their progress, but he had a feeling that for him, the memories would always be tainted with bitterness. Catching sight of Bebe's blond curls out of the corner of his eyes, Tweek huddled up closer to Craig and pushed the bad feelings back down into the depths where he tried to keep them.

Beginning to pace, his eyes fixed intently on a point in the middle distance, Toke continued, "Because I've been able to so accurately point to trends in how the High Jew Elf thinks and strategizes, I've been able to start pushing him into a corner. Though we've only been fighting smaller skirmishes, we've been winning them and we've been driving the Elves out of traditionally human territory without taking any land that was originally theirs. There's a reason for that." Nodding to Kenny, who was standing next to Cartman, Token asked, "Princess Kenny, would you like to explain the plan?"

Touching a hand to his cheek, as though embarrassed by Token's attention, Kenny brightly said, "Of course, Token." Stepping forward, the Princess eyed the Humans mischievously before saying, "The Grand Wizard, Token and I have called you all here today because all of this maneuvering has finally come to a head. We are at the point where I expect we'll have the stick in a few days' time, maximum." Waiting for the sounds of excitement from the other boys to quiet down, Kenny continued, "All we have to do to get there is win one more crucial battle. One that will be become legendary if we can win it."

Nodding, Token picked up from where Kenny had left off easily. "We all know that the Elves have always had an advantage when it comes to certain types of battle." Ticking off the things on his fingers, Token said, "They're typically quicker, more versatile, and have an undisputed advantage when it comes to forest warfare or any other fight where they can get the height advantage. Those are several things that Humans have so far failed to best, with the exception of some outliers." The boy nodded in Craig and Tweek's direction, making the blond let out a muffled screech and Craig just blink.

"But there's one thing that the Elves are inferior to us at," Kenny cut in, his sky blue eyes lighting up behind his blond wig and orange parka. "According to the official rules of the game, the thing that Humans excel at are water battles." Wait, what?! Tweek slapped a hand over his mouth to hold back his scream. Water battles? Like with boats? The other boys around them were also making doubtful sounds, clearly not sold on the idea. Tweek had never even been in a boat before, much less fought in one. How was he supposed to be better that than fighting on land?! What was Kenny talking about?

Almost at once, Tweek felt Craig pull him closer and rest his chin on the blonde's head. As if that pressure was pushing all of that panic down through Tweek's body and out through his toes or something, the blond felt his shaking subside to the usual shiver as Craig softly murmured, "It'll be okay, you won't sink." Unable to look up at him due to Craig's decision to use him as a chinrest, Tweek simply clenched a hand in the side of the boy's tunic and allowed the Noirette to pull him over till they might as well have been sitting in the same chair.

"Jesus man, y-you don't know that," Tweek hissed, twitching. Though he wanted to say any number of other things, Token started talking again, compelling him to pay attention once more.

Stepping out of the way of his map, which had been covered by a much simpler drawing done in thick black marker, Token tapped the middle of the page. "Stark's pond. A piece of territory that has traditionally been the Elves' land since the beginning of the game because it's surrounded by forest. But what we forget, is that most of it-" He gestured loosely at the obvious diagram. "Is water. Now usually during the winter, it would be entirely frozen over, but it just so happens that we've had a run of warmer days, the temperature going above freezing for most of the day. By tomorrow, Stark's pond will be almost entirely unfrozen."

Smiling, clearly at least a little proud of his genius, Token continued, "Though the Elves do have several vessels, seeing as they've had the pond for a good length of time, they have no skill in operating them. Right now, the Humans have better sea craft, thanks to some concerted efforts to muster a decent Navy, and we also have the tactical advantage due to our careful pushing and prodding at their defenses." Taking a breath, Token turned to Cartman and gave a slight bow. "Grand Wizard?"

Bustling forward, his robes rippling around him, Cartman smacked his staff on the ground and announced, "Tomorrow, at lunch, I will be issuing a formal challenge against the Highest of the Dirty Jews, Kyle himself, to a formal battle over the territory of Stark's Pond. Naturally, because Humans are way cooler than Elves, we'll kick their asses and they won't have enough forces to stop us when we attack their Castle the next day and finally take back the Stick of Truth, restoring the power of the universe into the hands of the rightful faction!"

Lifting his staff above his head, the Grand Wizard announced, "The people of Kupa Keep will be powerful once more!" For a moment, no one cheered, everyone just stayed silent, unsure whether they should be worried about it or not. Tweek himself felt fear rise up in his gut at their silence. If he wasn't the only one to think this was crazy, then what were they going to do. He didn't doubt that Token's plan would work, but he wasn't sure if the Humans were able to actually fight well on the water in practice. Before his worry could turn to panic, however, Craig suddenly buried his face in Tweek's hair, entirely distracting the boy from what he'd been thinking about as chills ran down his spine.

Pulling his face out of Tweek's hair, Craig let out an audible sigh that broke the silence before flatly saying, "Fuck it, why not? If we learned to fight in the trees, we can learn to dominate the water." Tightening his hold around Tweek's shoulders, Craig continued, "I'm tired of politics. Let's be fucking badasses instead." At Craig's words, Tweek felt a sudden knot of determination form in his stomach. Craig was right. He was sick of politics that resulted in things like Craig and Bebe dating, he wanted to go back to what this game was originally meant for and fight a real battle.

Almost at once, from somewhere in the back, Russell let out a whoop and said, "Yeah, let's kick their asses!" Before he'd even finished speaking, the rest of the Humans let out a chorus of loud cheering mixed with battle cries and insults directed at the Elves. As the din started to get louder, Tweek felt the confidence spread throughout his body. Despite the sour look Cartman was giving Craig, Tweek just joined in the cheering, displacing himself from the Noirette's side so he could add his own voice to the others.

Craig's right, we can do this! Tweek realized, his spirits soaring. Besides, if I'm fighting with him, we can do anything!

As the boys started to settle down, Kenny clapped his hands once before announcing, "We meet here tomorrow! Until then, may you keep your swords sharp and your minds sharper."

Leaping to his feet almost at once, Tweek twitched as Craig got to his feet as well and Token walked over to them. As the courtyard around them started to be cleared and most of the Humans started filing out of the gate and leaving, Tweek stood at Craig's shoulder and decidedly didn't let the sight of Bebe catching the Noirette's arm make him feel sick. Giving Craig a skeptical look, Token flatly said, "You're lucky you're important, otherwise your stupidity would catch up with you."

Blandly looking at his friend like he couldn't give less of a shit, Craig said, "Yep," popping the 'p'. Staring at Craig for a moment longer, Token finally shook his head and moved up next to Clyde, who was already starting to leave, talking with Bebe as he did. As he was pulled away by the girl attached to his arm, Craig raised an eyebrow at Tweek, whose eyes widened as he hurried to follow along as well.

The moment they'd left Kupa Keep, Tweek couldn't deny he felt relieved to see Bebe let go of Craig and move up so she could properly talk to Clyde and Token, who were both discussing the validity of certain points that had to do with the battle tomorrow. Easily falling in beside Craig, Tweek kept silent as he listened to the sounds of the night filling in the gaps between what people were saying. Craig didn't bother to talk, he just walked calmly beside Tweek as he watched the horizon. This was something Tweek could get used to, right after the game when everything almost went back to normal and there were no more fronts to put up. He liked this, even with the addition of Bebe.

As they reached the corner where Tweek would turn to go home, they all paused for a moment. Like he usually did, Craig followed him instead of going with his girlfriend and his other friends, allowing Clyde to give him a joyful hug and Token to shoot him one last meaningful look before the parted ways. While Tweek stood through his own obligatory hug from Clyde, the blond almost missed the series of looks that Bebe and Craig exchanged, each of them clearly possessing a meaning that he wasn't privy to. Biting his lip, Tweek went through his usual process of shoving down the queasy roll of his stomach because at least tonight Craig had chosen to go with him.

"See you tomorrow~" Bebe called, waving to them as they turned down the street and Tweek caught Craig's hand so they could cross the road. "Bye Tweek!"

"Ngh- Bye!" Tweek yelped back, giving the girl a twitchy wave before allowing Craig to lead him across the street. Falling in beside the boy comfortably, Tweek was silent for a moment before the question that had been on his mind for most of the walk from Kupa Keep popped out of his mouth. "Do you think Cartman –ghn- is gonna do anything t-to you for making him look stupid?" He couldn't help but worry about it, he knew that Cartman still hated Craig for breaking his nose, even if he didn't act like it. People didn't just forget and Cartman had a memory that was longer than most.

"Nah dude, he's not that stupid," Craig said blithely, squeezing Tweek's hand slightly as he spoke. Shivering, Tweek screwed his face up into a frown as he tried to convince himself that Craig was right. He still didn't like it, but if Craig said it would be alright then it probably would be. Letting out a puff of air, Tweek's face smoothed out as Craig ruffled his hair with the Noirette's usual calm demeanor. It made him feel better, even though the matter was trivial.

"D-do you really think we're gonna win?" Tweek asked, his eyes wandering through the dark, on the watch for anything that might jump out at them, though he doubted anything would. Craig was there, things didn't tend to follow him when the taller boy was around. "I mean –ghn- I h-haven't even been on a boat before!"

Easily, like he didn't even have to think about it, Craig said, "We'll be fighting together, right? So yeah, I think we'll beat them." He said it so matter-o'-factly, like there was no way he could be wrong, that Tweek naturally believed. Because if there was one thing that Craig and he still had, it was their ability to fight perfectly as a team. Though it didn't seem like they got to fight together as much as Tweek would have wanted, he knew that together, very little could touch them.

"Y-yeah," Tweek agreed, at last, twitching and tightening his own hold on the Noirette's hand to compensate for the swelling feeling in his chest. "We will."

Sucking in his cheeks, Craig smiled ever so slightly before saying, "Now, are you gonna tell me about how that fight went earlier?"

Giggling, Tweek said, "It was awesome, man." And as he told Craig about what had happened, he felt the pain that he always pushed down during the day loosen. Because at the end of the day, Craig was still there, and that was what mattered.