Chapter 13

Oh, yes, Valentine's Day is only the Friday before my birthday party… Stan realized, I wonder if I should get something for Wendy… She'll probably get pissed, though.

When Stan landed at the front door of his house, he asked his parents, "Hey, Mom? Dad? Do Kyle and I have to go back to school?"

"Yeah, you do," Randy responded.

"Aww, weeeaaaaaaak!" Stan shamefully wailed, flying around the room and bouncing on everything.

"Enough, young man!" Randy grabbed his son's tail, dragging him out the door, "Go to school, or else!"

"Noooo!" Stan beat his wings as fast and as hard as he could, but was getting rather tired of doing so.

"Here's your handbag, by the way," Sharon tossed Stan's bag at him, "Do what your father says and go to school. And don't forget to tell Kyle that he needs to go to school too!"

"Yeah, yeah, you big nags…" Stan took off.

"Man, he's acting like such a teenager…" Sharon slapped her face, sliding her hand down it.

"You think that's because he is?" Randy comforted his wife, "Just think, in another year, he'll be a man…"

"I can't believe how fast our son is growing up…" Sharon took a handkerchief out of her pocket and blew into it.

~Meanwhile, with Stan…~

"Damn, I can't believe how stupid my parents can be sometimes…" Stan grumbled on the short trip to Kyle's house, "They treat me like I'm a kid and that I knew nothing. If Izanami were still alive, I'm sure she'd treat me so much better. But then, I wouldn't be the apostle if she were, now would I?"

Stan stopped his thought process as he touched his feet down at the Broflovskis' front door, and relaxed his wings. He pushed the fancy-looking doorbell with its curly French designs and whatnot.

"Yes?" Gerald had answered the door.

"May I see Kyle? I need to ask him something."

"Sure. Come on in, Apostle," Gerald gestured.

Stan entered the home, but just barely, since his wingspan was so broad (24 feet and 8 inches, to be exact). When he finally did, he felt immense pain in them, in part by both struggling from his parents, flying to the Broflovski house, and trying to get in the door.

"Ouch…" Stan knelt to the floor as feathers scattered, both dark and light.

"Are you okay, Apostle Stanley?" Sheila knelt by Stan's side.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Stan barely got up, "My wings really hurt, that's all."

"Oh, dear, what a shame," Sheila fretted.

"Well, I didn't come here to tell you to mend my wings," Stan brushed some lint and dust off of himself, "Where's Kyle?"

"In his room, taking a nap," Sheila pointed upstairs.

"Thank you, Mrs. Broflovski," Stan nodded, treaded to the room, and while on the stairs, called out, "And don't call me 'Apostle' all the time."

"But you are the voice of the goddesses Ashera of order and Yune of chaos," Gerald explained, "You are the only one who could ever hear both since that incident earlier today."

"What?"

"You heard Yune, did you not?"

"Well, yes, but… Didn't you hear her, too?"

"Not when she was using mind-speech! You're the only one who can hear her at that moment. Exactly like Apostle Micaiah."

"Well, I'll keep that in mind from now on. Just… I'm not used to feeling like royalty. It would actually keep me at ease if you didn't call me 'Apostle'."

"If that is what you wish."

"Well," Stan continued up the stairs, "I really came here to tell Kyle something."

When he entered the wolf prince's room, surely enough, he saw him there. Kyle catnapped like a small wolf pup, with his tail curled up and his ears twitching from time to time.

"Wow…" Stan blushed a little, "I wonder if this is what he looked like when he was born, or at least what he slept like."

Stan found it hard to resist taking Kyle's wolf ears by their tips and just playing with them, so that is just what he did.

"Aww…" Stan smiled and purred, but then stopped after half a minute, "Wait, what the hell am I doing? I just came to tell Kyle that it's time for school…"

Stan then resorted to mind-speech, Hey, Kyle, wake up.

But Kyle didn't quite do so as he reached an arm out for Stan, grappled the apostle's neck, and planting a rather heavy kiss on his lips.

Kyle…! Stan tried to fight for air as he felt like he was losing oxygen really quickly, What kind of twisted fantasies do you have, dude?

"Huh… wha?" Kyle blinked, wiping eye crust from his eyes, "What happened?"

"Principal Balls called my house," Stan explained, attempting not to make direct eye contact with Kyle.

"And?"

"He says we have to go back to school within 10 minutes."

"I see. Well, that stinks. Luckily we're dressed, huh?"

"Yeah. We better leave now."

"Right."

Both boys left that bedroom, rushing down the stairs and grabbing their school bags.

"Hey, where are you going, Kyle?" Sheila asked them as she was knitting something.

"Principal Balls said we still have to go to school," Kyle replied.

"Okay, then."

"Bye, big brother!" Ike waved as they left.

Kyle shut the door behind him.

"Well, let's go, or we're going to be in trouble," Kyle flapped his wings lightly to get into the air.

When Stan tried to do the same, though, he strained to even get 5 feet off the ground.

"What's wrong?" Kyle eased Stan to the ground.

"I… My wings are killing me.." Stan grabbed onto them, "Sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to fly for a while. Can I ride on you, instead?"

"Sure," Kyle readily agreed.

"Thank you," Stan thanked as he mounted himself onto Kyle's back.

Kyle could still fly rather well, even with extra baggage on him. On the contrary, Stan was rather lightweight, so he carried him rather well.

"Are you sure you want to carry me all the way?" Stan asked, "I could fly from here. I'm sure my wings could take it."

"No, I don't think they could," Kyle said, "If you want to fly well again, you should rest them as much as possible."

"Okay," Stan felt like he was going to hyperventilate for some reason, "Say, Kyle?"

"What is it?"

"What kind of dream… were you having right before I got in the room?"

"You really want to know that?"

"Yeah."

"Um… Don't laugh, but… I was dreaming that… That we were married and that we were dancing in a field of flowers."

"WHAT THE ****?!" Stan nearly fell off Kyle's back, "W-Well, it is only a dream, after all!"

"Yes, unfortunately," Kyle said sadly, "You'll probably never fall in love with me, anyway. You're still in love with Wendy, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but… She'll never like me back. She already likes that one dude from 'La Resistance'."

"What a shame, then…" Kyle's wing beats seemed to grow somewhat weaker.

What the hell… Stan growled, Why is he asking me about Wendy? He knows that she is my darkest memory…

"Sorry," Kyle apologized, "I'll never do that again."

"What?"

"You know, I am a lot more heron than you are. Thus I have a slightly better ability to sense people's thoughts than you."

"S***, I forgot about that…"

"And are you sick?" Kyle touched the back of his long wolf ear to Stan's forehead, "You're hot, and even from my back, your heart is beating very fast."

"Is that so?" Stan admitted that what Kyle was saying is true, though he was reluctant to do so, "Heh… I guess that the pain in my wings has bought about a fever!"

Luckily, the two landed the second Stan finished this sentence.

"No, I mean, it's unnatural," Kyle explained, "I touched the tip of my left ear to your forehead, and I though I stuck it in a preheated oven. And your pulse rate was so strong and so quick that I could feel your heart rather loud and clear, even with all the stuff in between it and my back. In fact, I even heard it."

"You just have way too good hearing!" Stan automatically dismounted Kyle, "That's just you showing off your laguz abilities!"

"No, really," Kyle seized Stan's shoulders, "It was loud and clear, like how a doctor listens to your heart through a stethoscope, except I didn't need one to hear yours. Ooh, are you just super-excited from being able to ride me? Are you actually faking your wing pain so you can ride my back?"

"No!" Stan complained, "I swear it's true! My wings hurt!"

"Uh-huh," Kyle laughed, almost diabolically, "You love me and you know it, Stan!"

"Shut up!" Stan growled in the way his cat blood wanted him to.

When Kyle was in a far enough distance to be unable to read his thoughts, Stan thought, Crap, crap, crap. Holy friggin crap. If I don't find Wendy soon, I'm going to fall prey to Kyle's gayness.

Stan, come on! Kyle shouted to Stan by use of a sending stone, which allowed them to telepathically communicate over extreme distances.

How long until the first bell?Stan asked.

One minute. Hurry along, now.

One freaking minute?! Stan worried, Well, how do you expect me to get to Ms. Choksondik's class without using my wings?

Simple. Just run like an ordinary human being.

Dammit… Fine. Stan gave up, using ever calorie of energy to make it to his 1st period class.

It was only 10 seconds to the bell, now, and Stan had just entered the hallway, which contained his first period class.

C'mon, I can still make it… he hoped.

Five seconds, Kyle warned. Five… four… three… two…

Just before Kyle was about to count the last two seconds, Stan barged in the algebra classroom.

"Hah, made it," Stan panted, making his way to his seat behind Kyle.

"Good timing, dude," Kyle patted his best friend on the back as he sat down.

"Mr. Marsh, you are very lucky, young man," Ms. Choksondik eyed Stan carefully, "One more second later, and I would have had to send you to the dean's office for an afternoon detention."

"Right, right…" Stan laughed to try to appear innocent.

"But we don't want to spend this whole class period to discuss your near-tardiness, now do we?" The algebra teacher turned on the overhead, "No! We're going to talk about finding negative square roots!"

Hey, Kyle, Stan tapped the Jewish boy on the shoulder.

What?

You get this?

Of course. I'm the best student in the class, you know. Why, you don't?

Well… I get it for the most part. But…

Their mind-speech was interrupted by Ms. Choksondik's voice.

"Okay, desk number 2, come up to the board and do this problem," Ms. Choksondik announced.

"Uh-oh," Craig whispered to Tweek, who sat next to him, "That's the hardest problem in the whole book. Whoever's number two is going to get it."

"Yeah…" Tweek shook as he spoke, "I can't get it, no matter how hard I try…"

"Well, you're kind of dumb, anyway," Clyde remarked from the seat to the right of Tweek.

"Hey!" Craig shot an angry look at Clyde.

"Desk number two…?" Ms. Choksondik tapped her foot, "Come up to the whiteboard, please."

Stan, that's you, Kyle told Stan.

What? No way! I didn't even do that problem!! Stan worried, but got up anyway.

"It's about time," Craig called from the "peanut gallery".

"At least do one step," Ms. Choksondik instructed.

"Okay…" Stan took an Expo marker the color of his hand, put the cap on the other end, and shook it nervously in his hand, Crap, I can't do this!!

It's okay… Kyle encouraged, Just take a deep breath and try to solve the problem.

Stan did as Kyle wanted, breathing calmly, trying to utilize his brain to do another step of the problem. He slowly moved the marker on the board and lifted it off. When he did, he asked Ms. Choksondik, "Is this correct?"

"Yeah, so far," Ms. Choksondik acknowledged, "Good work. You may sit down now."

Phew, glad that's over, Stan wiped his brow, I hate math. Don't you, Kyle?

Uh-huh, Kyle nodded, People think that just because I'm right on track to be the valedictorian of my class that I like school. But I hate it just as much as I hate Cartman for making fun of my religion.

"I'll take volunteers, now," Ms. Choksondik offered.

Now you tell me that… Stan couldn't believe his ears.

Don't worry, Kyle got out of his seat, I'll go.

"Oh, it's the total smart-ass of the school," Cartman rolled his eyes.

"Shut up!" Stan's cat ears went flat and he growled, as if he were a full-blooded cat.

"Okay," Ms. Choksondik nodded.

"If I may, ma'am," Kyle began, "May I do the whole problem?"

"Of course," Ms. Choksondik permitted.

"Show off…" Cartman mumbled as Stan hissed at him again, "What, it's not like I'm talking about Wendy, you gaywad. You really have a thing for Kyle, don't you?"

"HELL NO!!" Stan looked away, trying to still his racing heart.

"Um, do I need to break you two up?" Ms. Choksondik crossly stared at Stan and Cartman.

"No…" Stan drooped his cat ears in embarrassment.

"Then behave like grown men," Ms. Choksondik scolded.

Well, we aren't grown men, bitch, Stan grumbled.

"If I may…" Kyle couldn't believe what was going on.

"Right," Ms. Choksondik hurried the lesson along, "Sorry, Mr. Broflovski, continue."

"Thank you," Kyle turned around and took the marker Stan was using, gracefully completing the math problem.

Wow, Kyle, you're good at math, you really are, Stan couldn't help but become amazed at Kyle's intelligence.

Tee-hee… Kyle grinned as he did the problem, but refrained from actually making any unusual noises, You praise me too much, Apostle.

What did I say about calling me "Apostle"?

Oh, sorry. But anyway, thanks for the praise. You really… do love me, don't you?

Can you stop that, too? I don't love you that way, dammit!! Don't call me "Apostle" anymore, and stop saying I'm in love with you when you know damned well I'm not! Just… just do the math problem and stop teasing me!!

Kyle frowned slightly as he stepped from the whiteboard, showing everyone his math work.

"Excellent!" Ms. Choksondik clapped, "All correct!"

Kyle's fangirls in the class, which amounted to about 16, squealed.

"Oh my God!!" Bebe happened to be one of them, "Isn't Prince Kyle just the coolest?"

"I know!" a random girl agreed wholeheartedly, "He's smart, athletic, very kind, and sooooooo handsome!!"

"Whoever he has a crush on is the luckiest bitch ever!" another anonymous girl wailed.

Heh… Kyle smirked sexily, Did you hear that, Stan? "Whoever he has a crush on is the luckiest bitch ever." You are lucky to have an awesome guy like me as your best friend and admirer. If only-

If only what?

Nothing. You said not to tease you anymore about you trying to fall in love with me, so I won't. Well, bye. Time for shop class.

Stan flushed a deep scarlet as soon as Kyle was far enough away, and distracted with greeting other students.

I… I didn't say you couldn't… Stan's thought process stopped when he saw Bebe Stevens, along with other Kyle fangirls, appear out of nowhere in front of Kyle.

"Hi, Prince Kyle!" The girls gathered 'round.

"Oh, hey girls," Kyle smiled, "What's up?"

"That was so cool what you did in Ms. Choksondik's class…" Bebe spoke in her annoying, girly-girl voice.

"Why, thank you," Kyle's grin could not be any sexier.

"Kyaaaa!!" The girls screamed, "Prince Kyle, you're cool!"

Stan was totally aghast at what he was seeing, Kyle, stop… Stop associating with those girls as if you were a player. I know you're so much better than that! I thought you were in love with m-

He suddenly stopped when he just realized what he was saying.

What… What on Earth am I saying? I'm acting like a jealous-

His thoughts were interrupted by Wendy suddenly presenting herself before him.

"Hi, Stan!" she gleefully spoke as she did often.

"Hello," Stan calmly talked.

"It's going to be really hard in Mr. Bob's class today, so you better be prepared," Wendy said as she headed to said class.

"Okay, see you there," Stan waved, then thought, Strange… I didn't feel giddy around her like I did when I was eight. My temperature was normal, and my pulse certainly was. Cartman might as well have been the one who had been talking to me, and I wouldn't fall in love with that douchebag for a million dollars. But around Kyle…

Stan jolted at this mere thought, feeling a high core temperature and his heart slam rapidly and powerfully against his chest.

But why do I feel this way just thinking about Kyle? Could what he has been saying be true? Could… could I possibly be… in… in…

But Stan didn't want to go on any further, knowing full well that Kyle would read his mind if he did. He entered the shop classroom, barely keeping his mind off of that moment he flew with Kyle in the sky.