VIII: Normalcy

"…The hell?" Stan asked as he took a sip of his hot chocolate. "I'm almost afraid to take a drink." He whispered.

"She's a nice old lady." Kenny said laughing. "She couldn't have poisoned our drinks."

They stayed in there for another twenty minutes trying to figure out the quickest way to Kenny's house. Stan told his friend he didn't know how much of the stupid shit he could take anymore.

"Let's take the rest at a fast walk." Kenny suggested as he took his and Stan's cups to the garbage.

"Hell no." Stan said looking at his friend miserably. "Let's just run to your place. I'm sure it's not that far away."

So, they did it. They left the coffee place, and ran as fast as they could to Kenny's. They were colder than they had been when the pair walked into the coffee shop. But they managed to make it all the way to Kenny's, and Ken had to admit. Stan was good at leading them. He took his keys out, slammed them in the hole, and opened the door. He ran in and waited for Stan to run in before closing the door. He locked it, as if to keep more rain from coming in to the house.

"You think Shelly will get mad?" Kenny asked as he and Stan walked over to the couch.

"Nah. She'll call here eventually when she doesn't see me return if she gives a fuck." Stan muttered as he stared at his clothes. "I'm not sure if I should sit anywhere." He said as he saw how wet he was.

"Well, if you come with me to my room," Kenny offered. "I'll let you look at my stuff and see what there is that will fit you." He said as him and Stan walked into Kenny's room

Kenny ended up giving Stan a nice pair of black pants, that actually weren't too bad. He handed him a shirt, that had Mysterion's photo on the back.

"Nice." Stan said seriously. "That looks really good."

"Butters made this one." Kenny said as Stan put the clothes on. "He's really good. Isn't he?" Kenny asked as he too changed into an outfit.

"That looks like-" Stan was cut off as the light flickered out. Kenny and him both groaned.

"Either Kevin and I forgot to pay the light bill…," Kenny observed. "or the power just went out and it just got a whole lot worse out there." He said as he looked out the window.

"I'm gonna go with the second one." Stan said as he walked over to Kenny's air mattress and sat down.

"I'll go get some candles." Ken muttered.

"Nah." Stan said as he handed Kenny a penlight. "If you need to go to the bathroom, take that." He muttered. "Otherwise, make it warm in here, McCormick, I'm freezing."

"I don't care what you say." Kenny said smiling at his friend as he sat beside him. "A cold shower is warmer than what we just had to go through out there."

They both burst into laughter as they sat on the bed. Stan looked at the outline of his friend, and sighed.

"I'm glad I got stranded with you." Stan said as he reached for the thick blanket and covered both of them.

"I'm really glad to hear that, Stan." Kenny said as he sat next to his friend wishing he could just lay down. Aw, fuck it. He didn't really give a damn enough to care what happened next, and he was really tired. So, he curled up next to Stan, and snuggled into the older boy's arm.

"We can keep warm this way." Stan said without laughing as he wrapped his arms around Kenny.

He shifted them so that they could both lie down beside each other. They laid there for what felt like five minutes. Then Kenny shifted a little in Stan's grip. "It's kinda still cold here." He muttered. "I think we should get the other two blankets."

Stan and Kenny both got the bed fixed up. They both returned to their original spots, and Stan once again held Kenny tightly in his arms. He was glad to finally be talking to the blond again. Both boys let out content sighs, and fell asleep.

… … … … …

When he awoke next, Kenny was lying in Stan's arms feeling nice and warm. He realized that he was lying in Stan's arms, and gently extracted himself from them. He made his way to the kitchen, and looked around for something to eat that didn't require a microwave or stove. Typical. Everything needed heat! Didn't they have "Hey! Twinkies!" he shouted as he saw the box of fried pollution. He called it that, because he had read the book on the composition of the Twinkie. It was not pretty. But oh they tasted good! He saw that they had a couple more things he could eat. He didn't hear Stan sneak up behind him and gasped when he heard the voice.

"So what have you got to eat Ken?" Stan asked as Kenny screamed. "I'm hungry."

"Whatever you can find in the fridge, I guess. Stuff that doesn't require heating it to make it awesome." He said as he watched Stan open a can of cream of mushroom. "I said anything that doesn't need a stove." Kenny corrected.

"I don't care." Stan said as he started eating it with a spoon. "It's better this way anyway."

"Stanley, you are so fuckin' weird." Kenny observed as he finished his Twinkie.

They sat talking and eating for a while longer. It almost felt like everything was back to normal. Kenny and San both dared to feel comfortable again. It was almost like the shit never hit the fan.

They were lying in bed again, shivering because they had realized how cold it could get. It was oddly creepy, the way the wind made the eerie noises. Kenny hated the way the trees swayed, making it look like the tree was going to land on the house no matter what.

"shouldn't we be doing something to make sure we wake up in the morning and aren't crushed by the outside forces?" Stan asked as they lay there shivering.

"Nah." Kenny said as the same thought crossed his mind. "Let's just not do it and say we did." Kenny said as he closed his eyes.

"Hey, Kenny?" Stan asked as they lay there trying to get warm. "I'm really sorry about everything." He said hoping he sounded sincere.

"It's all right Stan." Kenny said as he pulled the blanket over them a little more. "Just forget about it."

"Next time I act like a douche bag after something really big happens in our friendship, will you punch me?" he asked.

"Sure." Kenny said smiling at his friend. "I will punch you. Thanks for staying the night with me." He added as an afterthought. "I'm kinda creeped out by storms."

"It's not a problem Kenny." Stan said as he closed his eyes for good this time.

"Do you really want me to punch you?" Kenny asked a couple minutes later.

"Yes." Stan said as he brought Kenny closer to him. "You can punch me as hard as you want." He said as he slowly fell into sleep.