Chapter 23

"Man, I could barely sleep last night, thanks to you…" Stan managed to shove Kyle away from him, "My hole is burning…" Yo, Kyle. Wake your lazy butt up, why don't you.

"Okay, okay," Kyle groggily got up, beginning to clean Stan's bedspreads.

"Why the hell are you taking your time?" Stan whapped one of Kyle's wings with his tail, "We have school! Haven't you heard?"

"You nagging kitty," Kyle grinned, returning the friendly attack with a kiss to Stan's lips.

"I-I'm off now!!" Stan caught his breath right after breaking free. In an attempt to avoid Hatari's heir, the 16-year-old apostle jumped off of the stairs, levitating and touching his feet to the carpet. His parents were still not awake.

"Hmm, it's only 7:30 a.m.?" Stan looked to his right, where a magnificent grandfather clock stood, "Dang it. For Kyle being here, I woke up way too early. Oh well."

Stan plopped himself on the sofa in front of the T.V., picking up the remote to it on. He flipped through the channels, not very impressed with what he was seeing.

"My goodness…" Stan heaved a sigh, tracing the tips of his cat fangs with his tongue, "When is there ever anything good on – What!"

The young prince pointed his ears upward in eagerness, making his face look very catlike. He stopped surfing when the news came on, regarding South Park High School.

"Thanks, Tom, I'm standing just outside South Park High here…" the reporter spoke, "Yeah, there sure is a terrible blizzard outside… The Colorado state school board says that there is no school today!"

"No school?" Stan wagged his tail, "Yippee!" Hey, Kyle, guess what?

What? Kyle just came out of the room, with his sending stone in his hand.

"There's no school today!"

"Aw, crud!" Kyle fell to the floor, pointing his face and ears towards it, "I got up for nothing… Wait, not nothing… Stan!"

Kyle began to rush in his pockets for something, "Stan, I… that is, um… I… you…"

But Kyle's thought process was interrupted by Randy and Sharon simultaneously exiting their bedroom.

"Ung…" Randy rubbed his back, "Hey, shouldn't you be getting ready for school, Stan?"

"But look outside!" Stan walked to the window and called for his parents to come over, "There's a dreadful blizzard out there… And the news says that's it's so bad that school is closed today."

"So it is…" Randy groaned, still half asleep. His wife began to walk to the kitchen when she noticed Kyle, greeting him, "Oh, hey, Kyle. What brings you here?"

"Um…" Kyle looked around, averting the parents' gazes, "Just sleeping in Stan's room, staying over, that's all!"

"Fine, then," the former Gallian prince continued to plod towards the kitchen, lazily putting two slices of bread in the toaster.

"We know you two aren't gay, so there's nothing to worry about," Sharon, who was slightly more awake than her husband, got butter and jam out of their fridge.

"Yup!" Stan spoke up, getting better at covering certain truths, Little do they know…

Tee-hee… Kyle giggled when Stan's parents were not looking, I see what you mean. Say, Stan…

What?

I think that the McCormicks aren't doing so well right now, especially since Kenny went into that fifty-year coma. Now they have to face a blizzard, with little food or anything. You want to take a quick trip to Wal-Mart to buy some things for them?

Sure! It's the least we could do to thank Kenny for reviving you.

"Hey, Mom?" Stan made his way for the kitchen.

"What is it, Stanley?" Sharon's voice revealed that she was growing more awake.

"Can Kyle and I go to Wal-Mart to buy some food and things for the McCormicks?"

"Sure. But make sure you go in your laguz forms. It's freezing out there."

"Thanks!" Stan bowed his head slightly, put his wallet in his pocket, then took Kyle by the hand, "Come on, Kyle, let's go."

"What?" Kyle asked when he and Stan were out of the house, "She said we could go, then?"

"Yeah. But it would behoove us to go when shifted," Stan had already become a winged cat.

"I see," Kyle agreed, transforming into a winged wolf, taking lead in the sky.

"Brr…" Stan shivered ¾ of the way to Wal-Mart, "Even with all of our fur, it's still cold as hell out here…"

"But hell's supposed to be hot," Kyle remarked.

"Oh, you know what I mean!"

"Don't worry, Apostle Stanley, I'll keep you warm."

"You know, that doesn't sound very right."

"Well, you're my boyfriend, right? It's only natural of me to be concerned about you and want to protect you."

"True that… But stop calling me 'Apostle!!' " Stan touched his hind paws in the snow in front of the Wal-Mart as he and Kyle both changed back.

Okay, how about "Stanley-chan"? Kyle roared in laughter in his head.

I suppose… Just only call me that through mind-speech, Stan answered, After all, we don't want people to know of our affair…

Fine. But what should I call you in public, aloud?

Just "Stan" would be fine.

Okay! Kyle playfully tweaked Stan's cheeks.

Kyle! Don't do that! Stan attempted to ward Kyle off as people stared in confusion, You're already giving people suspicions… Remember what we came here to do, Wolf Prince!

Okay… You're acting like my wife already.

"What should we buy first?" Stan looked around the school, twitching his ears as if he were in the wild.

"I don't know," Kyle responded, "Try to keep it simple, since we'll be buying a lot. Beef jerky, perhaps?"

"If it's on sale," Begnion's apostle hovered over to the dried goods section with Kyle close behind, "Hey! Only 2 bucks for one regular-sized bag! That's pretty cool!"

"We'll buy ten, then," Kyle put ten bags of several flavors of beef jerky in the cart, "What else?"

"Um, let's see… They don't have a lot to drink, so go over to the drink mix section and buy several drink packets. Also, get some water. I'll think of more food to get."

"Right," Kyle nodded, lightly flapping his wings to fly over to the drink mix section of Wal-Mart.

"Now, what else?" Stan wagged his tail and wiggled his cat ears, thinking hard, Oh, I know! Candy! Lots of hard candy would be good! And… and chips, and T.V. dinners! Wow, it really feels like we're giving to charity, huh, Kyle?

Yup. In a way, I guess we are.

You almost done getting drink packets?

Yeah. I'll be there in a little while. Kyle descended from the sky ten minutes later, landing right in front of Stan.

"That was fast!" Stan nearly jumped at Kyle's sudden appearance.

"Okay, now…" Kyle put the packets of several drink mixes in the cart, "We have hard candy, a myriad of T.V. dinners, ten bags of beef jerky, drink mixes, and potato chips. I think this is enough. It'll be on my- Crap! I forgot my wallet!"

"Don't worry, Kyle," Stan took his wallet out of his pocket, holding it up, "I've got mine. Let me pay for all of this."

"B-But Stan… there must be at least $100 worth of stuff here! Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I am. Who else is going to do it?"

"Let me give you $50 when we get home."

"Oh, that won't be necessary."

"I insist!"

"No, really, Kyle, it's fine."

"B-But… Waah, you're mean!!"

Kyle then cried slightly, attracting attention from all directions.

"Wow, it's like they're lovers," a random passerby noted.

Kyle, calm down! Stan covered the wolf prince's mouth with his right hand, People will get suspicious of us!

B-But…

Fine! If it will calm you down, pay me $50 when we get home, why don't you.

Yaaaaay!! Kyle resisted the urge to glomp his boyfriend. Thus he merely waggled his tail and ears, acting like the wolf pup he once was.

"Hey, it's Prince Kyle!" Some high school girls screamed from nearby.

"Uh-oh…" Kyle jolted, What on Earth are these river dogs doing here?

I don't know, Stan replied, but we need to leave, now, or there will definitely be hell to pay.

I second that! Let's go! Kyle rushed to the cash register nearest him, quickly taking Stan's wallet for the money.

"Where are you going, Prince Kyle?" a random girl shouted.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" hollered another.

"Rawr!" Stan hissed, "Leave him alone! Will you not ever give him the time of day?"

"Ooh…" about twenty girls cooed, "Looks like someone's jealous…"

"I am NOT jealous, you bitches!" Stan ran after Kyle, who was already rushing to leave the Wal-Mart.

"Noooo!!" the girls continued to chase after the two teenage boys, "Prince Kyyyyyyyyllllllleeeeeee!!!!"

"Damn, good riddance…" Kyle snarled at the mob of fangirls as he and Stan took wing, "If they expose our forbidden love, I'll tear them to smithereens with my piercing fangs."

"If I may, Prince," Stan offered, "I would like to partake in that."

"Be my guest!"

About ten minutes later, Stan and Kyle landed at the doorstep of the McCormick house, with a crapload of bags in their hands. Stan knocked, receiving Kevin's presence as an answer in ten seconds.

"H-Hello?" Kevin timidly spoke.

"Hi, Kevin," Stan smiled warmly, "Are your parents at home?"

"Yeah," Kevin nodded, "Mom! Dad! Stan and Kyle are at the door!"

"Hmm?" Stuart's footsteps were getting closer, "Oh, hi, boys. What do you have there?"

"Just some stuff to help you get through this blizzard," was Kyle's answer.

"Oh, we appreciate it, but we couldn't," Carol was now at the door, "You boys have done too much for us, and now this…"

"Please, Mrs. McCormick," Kyle bowed from the waist up, "Your son revived me from death. He's always been our friend ever since preschool. It's the extreme least we could do to return the favor."

"Oh…" Carol held her hands to her eyes as light tears flowed, "If you so insist, then we couldn't waste the offerings. Come inside, you two."

"Thank you," Kyle got up, bowing his head, "Where do you want us to put this?"

"Just set it on the kitchen counter," Stuart pointed towards the McCormick's filthy kitchen.

"Okay," Stan nodded, "Mr. McCormick?"

"Yes?" Stuart said as he turned on his family's beat-up television.

"Where is Kenny right now? We want to pay him a visit."

"He's in his room, resting, of course. Go ahead."

"Thanks again," Stan tilted his head to show gratitude, "Come along, Kyle."

It took a rather long time to find Kenny's room. The McCormick home has improved slightly over the years, but not much. But they still managed to locate that room, the one room that actually looked whole in the entire house.

"Kenny?" Kyle knocked as he and Stan let themselves in, "We're here to visit."

The graceful heron merely lay there as he slept, his fair wings folded so that he could hardly be seen.

"Oh, that's right…" Kyle seemed to forget, "Kenny's going to sleep for 50 years, thanks to the galdr of revival."

I can still talk to you through mind-speech, though, a voice suddenly popped in both Stan and Kyle's heads.

Kenny? Is that you? Stan was astounded.

Yes. For a mere hour every week, I am able to talk to one with heron blood through mind-speech. This also holds true for any son of Fleance who sings the galdr of revival.

That's good to hear, Kyle breathed a sigh of relief, Well, knowing that you're okay, we'll take leave.

Okay. I know you have millions of things to do.

Tee-hee, Stan giggled, See you awake in 50 years.

Stan and Kyle then left the room, leaving the boy with gorgeous plumage alone.

"Why are you worried, Apostle?" Kyle suddenly took Stan to a somewhat secluded area of the house.

"I… Wow, 50 whole years… We have to wait that long to see Kenny truly alive again."

"Stan, Kenny knew that this was going to happen when he sung the galdr. You have to let it go. Besides, we can still talk to him for an hour every week. Doesn't that suffice to some extent?"

"I suppose…"

"It's okay," Kyle ran Stan's shiny hair through his fingers, "In 50 years, he can see us as a completely united couple. Too bad we can't invite him to the wedding, though. But he can be with us in spirit!"

"That's true," Stan shed a tear of joy, allowing Kyle to take his lips, In 50 years… and what happens between then and now… Only the goddesses voice will tell. Only my own darkness… will tell.