Stan

Stan woke up to find Kyle on top of him, sound asleep.

This wasn't an uncommon occurrence actually, it happened a lot. A surprising amount, really. Still, it made him smile to see his usually agitated super best friend sleeping so peacefully, awkwardly curled up on top of him as if he hadn't supposedly fallen asleep on the other end of the bed. With his red curls spilling out over Stan's shoulder and his hand stubbornly fisted in the raven-haired boy's shirt, Kyle looked as calm and unconcerned with the living world as could be. Which was probably good, because after the night before, they all needed a rest.

Unable to move much, considering his position, Stan glanced out the window and sighed softly at the sight of the sun poking out stubbornly from behind the remnants of the night storms. It was noon, but Stan didn't really concern himself with that fact. Saturday, after all, meant no school, which in turn meant they'd have a couple days respite after the disastrously cataclysmic end of the game.

How did we even end up playing a game like that? Nazi Zombies? Did Butters really end up inside Mr. Slave's asshole to disarm a Snuke? And what about Kenny? Did he really turn into a zombie and end up fighting Tweek and Craig, or did I imagine that last bit? Nah, that last one couldn't have happened, but the rest of it totally had. And now the game was over, which left him feeling equal parts somber and glad.

Glancing down at Kyle, who was wearing an amusing mix of Stan's clothes and his own, the boy snorted softly. Well, if there was one thing he was grateful for, it was that Kyle wouldn't be under so much pressure anymore. Because no one deserved to have to be responsible for that many other people constantly. How he'd lasted as long as he did was both amazing and a testament to how strong he was.

Any further thinking was decidedly interrupted by Kyle's eyes opening, instantly trapping Stan in that deep, emerald green. As the redhead gradually woke up, his face pinching into a familiar scowl before he devolved into soft, tired sounds, Stan chuckled. Brought out of the threads of sleep by the sound no doubt, Kyle chose that moment to awkwardly attempt to sit up, sharply elbowing Stan in the ribs as he did before collapsing back on top of his friend.

"Dude!" Stan complained as his attempts to avoid the sharp, bony points that Kyle had mysteriously seemed to develop resulted in a confusing tangle of limbs and sheets.

"Dude yourself," Kyle mumbled grumpily, kicking him in the side in an attempt to sleepily free himself from the covers. "What fuckin' time is it even?"

"Who cares it's Saturday," Stan griped right back, only to get an elbow in the eye. Finally giving up, Stan literally pushed Kyle out of the bed, which only resulted in the boy pulling him down as well. As the two of them sprawled out over the floor, Stan was unpleasantly reminded of the fact that he was covered in bruises and no, that didn't make for a pleasant landing.

"You're such an asshole," he complained, at last managing to disentangle himself from the sheets.

"At least I didn't have to climb into one last night," Kyle mumbled in response, before rolling up in the covers that he'd pulled off of Stan's bed and curling up on the floor. Laughing tiredly at the boy's retort, Stan sat up and rubbed at his eyes as he stared at the bundle that was Kyle.

"No kidding, I hope Butters is okay," Stan agreed, shivering. There were just some things that he hoped he never had to do, like ever, and he'd discovered that climbing up a gay man's asshole was pretty high up on the list.

"He'll be fine, 's long as he showers," Kyle muttered, his bright hair fluffing out of the top of the white sheets like he was some kind of weird cigarette. Glancing over towards the corner of his room at the remaining bits of costume that they'd stripped off the night before after being soaked by the rain, Stan managed a tired grin.

"It's over, you know?" Finally, after all this time, the stupid game is done. Looking up at the sunshine streaming through his window, Stan said, "I can't believe it, after everything, they destroyed the Stick and now it's done."

"Thank god," Kyle said stoutly, finally poking his head out of the sheets just enough so that he could stare at Stan. Despite the slight puffiness under his eyes, no doubt from the lack of sleep in the days preceding the final battle, Kyle practically glowed in the late morning light."I can't believe we all survived that."

"Me neither dude, I would have expected at least one of us to have gotten turned into a zombie," Stan agreed, shaking his head in wonder. Flopping over lazily, not quite ready to do anything, the Raven stared at Kyle for a moment before asking, "Was your brother alright after everything?"

Kyle snorted. "Yeah, he's fine. Though…" He pulled a face. "I don't know about the rest of the town."

"It'll be fine," Stan assured the boy, waving it off easily. "This is South Park."

"Yeah, it's pretty used to our bullshit at this point," Kyle chuckled, his cheeks flushing a light shade of pink in the process. Catching himself staring into his super best friend's bright eyes for a moment longer than was really necessary, Stan laughed at himself and at last managed to drag himself to his feet.

"Do you know what happened to Kenny?" the boy asked as he looked around for some actual clothing to wear. "I mean, he betrayed us and then I sort of lost track of him."

"Maybe he died," Kyle quipped, before both of them started laughing. Kicking the blanket worm that was the redhead, almost feeling guilty that the idea of Kenny dying was so funny, Stan ended up getting pulled over when Kyle unexpectedly shot out a hand and grabbed his ankle. Getting control of his vocal chords once more, Kyle said, "Text him, he probably just went home early or something with Karen. I dunno, we'll probably see him today."

Propping his head up on Kyle, Stan nodded. "Yeah, probably." In the silence, a certain tired sort of melancholy came over the room. After everything that had happened, normal felt like sort of a let down. He was glad that the insanity was over, but what came next? Shifting, Stan said, "So, you wanna do something today?"

"Other than value my life and be glad that this bullshit didn't kill us?" Kyle quipped, wiggling out of his cocoon at last and helping Stan to his feet. "Yeah, why not. It's been a long time since we did something other than play the fantasy game." He made a good point, and Stan wasn't going to argue.

As he got dressed and helped Kyle dig up enough of his own clothes from Stan's closet to go out in public, the Raven found himself thinking about the game once more and the insanity they'd survived. Curiously, he glanced out the window, wondering if perhaps he'd see the streets overrun with zombies or otherwise in chaos, but it was just South Park, just the same old town as always. It would take more than an outbreak of weird green goo to make the place actually show any sign of anything.

"So what's it like to be a Human again?" Stan asked, smirking slightly as he watched Kyle grumpily attempt to get one of the Elf ears untangled from his hair. "Do you miss controlling half of the school?"

"Fuck no," Kyle said instantly, before letting out a sound of frustration and gave up trying to disentangle himself from the remnants of his costume. "It was fun while it lasted, but I'm tired of it now. I'm ready to do something else, preferably something not frying pans."

Moving over to help his friend get the ear out of his hair, Stan noticed the bruise that covered Kyle's shoulder and sucked in a breath. It wasn't like he could have done anything about it, but it still made his insides clench. "Yeah dude, someone needs to tell Tweek to chill out." Though, if he was being honest, it was pretty impressive that the blond had come out of his shell so completely. I can't believe he used to be a total mouse. Man, people change.

"I can't believe that he betrayed me," Kyle huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at himself in the mirror. "I mean I thought he was on our side! If it hadn't been for Craig, we totally would have won that whole thing. It's so unfair that he switched sides like that." Nodding, pulling apart the stubborn curls that had ensnared the stray costume piece, Stan caught the almost disappointed look on Kyle's face and frowned.

"I dunno dude, I think it kind of makes sense," Stan admitted, finally getting the ear out and taking a moment to simply fluff Kyle's hair, amused with the way it instantly bounded back to its original shape. "Of course he was going to join Craig, you know how they are. They're always together."

"Still!" Kyle complained, letting out a huff and leaning back against Stan's chest. "I thought he was pissed at Craig, especially after all the bullshit that was going on between them. They were on different sides, they weren't even fighting for the same thing!" Eyes drifting closed, even though his face retained his scowl, Kyle grumbled, "It's irritating."

Absently poking Kyle's forehead, causing him to scrunch his eyebrows together, Stan said, "If we were fighting on opposite sides of a war, I'd totally betray them to fight with you. Some things are more important than imaginary divisions." His own words made him laugh, disturbing Kyle from his resting place. Grunting, the redhead straightened and walked over to where he'd thrown his hat the night before.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Picking up the trapper's hat so he could stare at it for a moment, Kyle muttered, "I still think they're both weird, though… I'm glad they're not fighting anymore. It sucks to see them fighting." Standing there, watching Kyle, Stan found himself wondering if the other boy would forgive him so quickly if he were as idiotic as Craig had been acting.

Unrelatedly, the memory of Wendy's cold behavior the night before popped through his mind and Stan found his mood lowering. I've still got to talk to her, which probably isn't going to go over well. Shoulders slumping, Stan sighed and said, "It sucks when anyone's fighting."

Shooting him a shrewd look, Kyle's mouth tightened slightly and he shortly agreed, "Yes, it does." Without explaining his sudden change in attitude, Kyle swiftly rummaged through their costumes and found his and Stan's phone. Throwing it over to the Raven, who caught it easily, Kyle said, "Oh look, Cartman texted. Apparently he has a concussion."

That made Stan snort. "We should probably visit him at some point."

"He's probably faking it," Kyle muttered, rolling his eyes. "Though Tweek did hit him pretty hard." Snickering slightly at the memory, Stan grabbed for his own hat and pulled it down over his messy black hair before grabbing for the door knob.

"Whatever dude, let's just get out of here before my dad ropes me into something weird," Stan commented, before shivering at the memory of his dad in the weird armor he'd been wearing the night before. "God, I can't believe he decided to join the game. That was… mildly embarrassing actually."

Kyle barked with laughter. "Stan, your dad is the definition of embarrassing." Walking past the slightly taller boy out into the hall, the redhead brushed up against Stan's shoulder before calling, "Come on, I want to know if they actually got rid of all that weird metal everywhere." Following Kyle, a smile stretching across his face, Stan easily fell in step beside his friend as they headed downstairs and out the front door.

As they walked through the neighborhood, Stan noticed the remaining paraphernalia that hinted at what had gone down the night before. Thankfully, there were no zombies, but he did catch sight of Clyde's castle in the distance, which was a little worse for wear after the storm, and a strange abundance of red shingles everywhere. All in all though, it was all back to normal. There was no longer the feeling that they were going to get jumped if they stepped wrong, and Stan felt like the air had lightened, though that might have been his imagination.

"So what game do you think we're going to end up playing next?" Stan asked, feeling Kyle bump up against him comfortably. "After that, we're going to have to find something new, I guess." Kicking a pebble, he commented, "Next time, let's not have the whole school get involved, that was pretty insane."

"Fucking sixth graders," Kyle muttered mutinously. Still upset that they almost hurt your little brother? Well, Stan got it. He was still a little irritated at Tweek for hitting Kyle so hard when it was just a game, but there were other things to focus on, namly Kenny striding down the middle of the street like he owned it.

"Well I'll be, you two actually survived!" Kenny called, lifting a hand in greeting. "You know, I was a little worried that you might drown. Cartman's always saying that Jews can't swim, but then, he also says that girls have balls so really, he's only accurate about fifty percent of the time."

"Asshole, that's complete bullshit!" Kyle instantly retorted, his face turning red in irritation.

Punching Kenny's arm, Stan scoffed, "Oh shut up Kenny, like you don't usually believe everything he says."

Rubbing at his arm, a mockingly hurt expression on his face that instantly melted away into that easy smile, Kenny mocked, "Are you sure you're not projecting Stan~?" Wiggling his eyebrows and laughing at Stan's affronted expression, Kenny asked, "So~ What are you two up to today? Hopefully not getting ready to destroy the world again, my schedule's just packed until next Tuesday!"

"Says the one who betrayed us!" Kyle fired back, though he was grinning as well. "Seriously Kenny, what made you think that Clyde bringing back nazi zombies was going to turn out well?" Shaking his head, the redhead firmly said, "The only Nazi I have the energy to deal with is Cartman."

"And you don't usually have the patience to even deal with him," Kenny instantly quipped, earning himself another punch from Kyle. "What, is this just beat up Kenny day?" he asked, still laughing.

"I'm still annoyed that you betrayed us like that," Kyle told him, starting back down the street. Taking a quick step so he could fall in on Kyle's other side, Stan snorted at the boy's words.

"Yeah dude, and then did you even stick around?" Bumping up against Kyle's arm, smoothing some of his ruffled feathers, Stan asked, "Where did you go last night? You kind of just vanished at some point."

For a moment, Kenny's smile froze, then he looked down at the street and chuckled softly. "I just had to walk Karen home, ya know? Besides, betrayal gets old pretty fast." Catching Kyle's see, I told you so expression, Stan shrugged off the weird fuzziness in his head. "What, were you worried about me?" Kenny teased, his eyes glittering.

Kyle snorted. "As if." Laughing at Kenny's theatrically hurt expression, Kyle said, "Dude, after all the bullshit that you put us through during that fucking game, I wouldn't have even been mad if you drowned."

"Excuse you, I helped you," Kenny corrected as they turned the corner and started towards the little strip of businesses. When Stan gave the boy a skeptical look, Kenny amended, "Mostly…"

"If it hadn't been for you, this game would have been over way sooner," Stan pointed out, remembering all of the random shit that Kenny had pulled at every opportunity. "As it was, we were playing that for what, five months?" Almost impressed by the amount of time they'd managed to stay interested in one thing, Stan snorted and said, "Heck, it wasn't even fun by the end of it."

"I'll have you know that being a girl was a lot of fun," Kenny told Stan, putting his hands on his hips mockingly and adopting an almost comically bad falsetto. "I got to have lipstick and lace and the girls even invited me to their hideout, which is more than either of you will ever manage."

Kyle pulled a face. "As if we'd ever want to go there!"

"Aww, I bet Stan would have had fun," Kenny cooed, his eyebrows back to doing their little mocking dance. The moment he said the words, Stan started to laugh, then he stopped as he remembered the cold way Wendy had ignored him when he'd tried to apologize the night before, and his mirth died in his chest.

"Fuck off dude," he muttered, scuffing his shoes across the sidewalk as his insides clenched. Why do I even bother with her, I'm just going to mess up again and annoy her, he thought despondently, feeling his spirits sink a little lower. I don't blame her, I'm kind of a crappy boyfriend. As if the universe was determined to make things worse, Kyle took one look at Stan's face before the air around him darkened, as if he were upset with the Raven as well.

Lacing his fingers behind his head and whistling through his teeth, Kenny said, "Whatever, I just wish I could have seen Tweekers and Butterscotch dressed up as girls. Heidi told me that they got all dolled up yesterday, I'm a little sad that I missed it." The idea of Tweek the barbarian in a skirt was enough to distract Stan from his thoughts of Wendy, and he chuckled.

"I bet they looked better than you did in a dress," he quipped.

"I'll have you know that I was fucking fabulous," Kenny informed then both hotly, miming a hairflip. Grinning when they laughed, the sandy-blond said, "It's closer to a girl than either of you will ever get."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Kyle retorted.

"Says the gay jew," Kenny poked.

"WHAT DOES BEING JEWISH HAVE TO DO WITH ANY OF IT!" Kyle roared. Grabbing his friend to make sure he didn't tear Kenny apart, Stan laughed at the redhead's reaction.

"You're a dick, Kenny," he told the boy, as straight-faced as he could manage.

"Ah yes, but you'll notice he never denied being gay," Kenny pointed out with a flourish of his hands. "Watch your ass Stan, otherwise Kyle wi- Ow! Was that necessary?" he asked, rubbing his ribs. "Between the two of you, I'm going to be black and blue."

"Good," Kyle said stoutly, settling down. "We can put you in the hospital with Cartman, see if you enjoy that."

Settling back down, enjoying the banter of his friends, Stan glanced up at the receding rain clouds and asked, "Do you think we're going to have school on Monday? I mean, we did kind of destroy several buildings."

"Nah dude, they have to fix the wall that we destroyed," Kyle said instantly, crossing his arms.

"I heard that Principal Victoria's actually being asked to step down because of what happened," Kenny hummed, glancing up at the sky. "One too many disasters that she hasn't stopped, apparently. Honestly though, who would want to be the principal of our school."

"No one sane," Stan said, rolling his eyes.

"We're not that bad," Kyle protested, huffing. "It's just this town is crazy. And Cartman, that fatass is always doing stupid things." And we're not? But Kyle had a point, they never started anything on purpose, it wasn't really their fault. Maybe without him, we'd actually get to have a normal life. Admittedly though, Stan would miss Eric Cartman, even though he was an asshole sometimes.

"True that," Kenny admitted, dipping his head with a laugh. As they walked towards the empty park, which looked like it had been set on fire at some point in the past twenty-four hours, the blond stretched his hands above his head and said, "Well, I'm just disappointed that Butterball got grounded again."

"Seriously?" Stan asked, crossing his arms. Even though the perpetually happy boy could be a little off-putting, he generally liked him and didn't like how his parents treated him. Though, considering how weird his own family was, he supposed he wasn't one to talk. "Oh well, I'm sure he'll get out of there soon."

"Butters' parents are criminally insane," Kyle said stoutly, stopping in front of the single park bench that hadn't been touched by any damage and sitting down. Bouncing up onto the bench as well, Stan squirmed over so he could steal the seat next to Kyle. Glancing over at him, Kyle shot him a cool look that said more than Stan felt up to understanding at that moment. So instead, he just leaned over and let his head fall into the redhead's lap so that he wouldn't have to look at it.

"Isn't everyone in this town?" Stan asked, letting his eyes drift closed as his remaining sleepiness caught up to him.

"Yep, every single one," Kenny agreed, lounging across the other side of the bench lazily.

And we're the craziest out of them all, aren't we? Laughing at the ridiculousness of his own thoughts, Stan let the calm silence cover the three of them comfortably. To be honest, when he thought about it, there was no chance of ever actually getting bored, because this was South Park, and something crazy was always happening. The day that things were normal would be the day the world ended.

So for now, he decided to just enjoy the peace and quiet.

They could do something else later.